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11-07-2007, 12:07 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Military forced to lower standards once again
Wild guess? Six months from now, they'll have to lower standards once again. What we need is a really bad downward turn in the economy. That would help with recruiting goals. |
11-07-2007, 08:00 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
I'm not sure why allowing enlistees with minor criminal histories into the military is a necessarily bad thing. Each enlistee is admitted on a case by case basis, and criminal offenses require a waiver be signed by the CO of the hometown recruiting command. Most of the people that need waivers are kids who got caught with a bag of weed, DUI, or some other stupid but relatively minor offense. Given the timeless but true anecdotes of people who enlist as an option given to them by a judge for dropped charges versus the conviction that previously disqualified them from service, it hasn't yet made a difference overall. Quote:
The number of incoming soldiers with prior felony arrests or convictions has more than tripled in the past five years. This year alone, the Army accepted an estimated 8,000 recruits with rap sheets, reports CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier.
Most are guilty of misdemeanors, but around 100 in the past year had felony convictions.
"Burglaries and narcotics are probably our two top categories," according to Col. Sheila Hickman.
In the Dallas recruiting office, Staff Sgt. Anthony Garcia says he enlists only those who are ready to leave that past behind.
"DUI, drug paraphernalia charges, more than three curfew violations," Garcia says. "It could be anything minor or some stuff major."
No violent crimes, but for "major stuff" like breaking and entering or arson, the military grants what's called a "moral waiver."
It's an old formula judges used to pronounce: Join the Army or go to jail.
| Military Lowers Standards To Fill Ranks, The Army Is Taking Chances On Recruits With Rap Sheets - CBS News
One good thing about the current recruiting crunch is that the medical regs are getting gone over with a fine tooth comb to figure out what is actually important and what is not. Prior to 2003 or so, the regulations hadn't changed much since Vietnam and if I had to guess close to a third of American males of military age weren't eligible for military service because of having some disqualifying condition (frequently "asthma" or orthopedic injury). This encouraged a lot of lying on physicals, and had the effect of keeping out a lot of guys who had the distinct disadvantage of growing up with health insurance or that were athletically active. Star running back that had his patellar tendon stapled 2 years ago? Waiver denied! Pasty, sunken-chested TV addict that's never seen a doc because he never left the trailer? Medically fit!
Malingering is a problem, and always has been. However, soldiers will get injured during training and during deployment and the ability to recover from injury is more important than its complete avoidance. It would probably be a better idea to do away with the idea of waivers in the first place, but roll up some sort of meaningful diagnostic PFT into MEPS process and get stricter about identifying and separating sick call rangers.
What we need is a large population of healthy males in good shape who aren't encumbered by wives or kids who find the idea of spending long periods of time in close proximity to other, similar males. If that isn't an overpowering reason for dropping DADT, I don't know what is.  |
11-14-2007, 11:05 AM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
"After lowering standards again, the U.S. military meets recruiting goals, looks forward to sending its first brigade of 17-year-old, asthmatic, walleyed drug dealers into battle" -- Drew Curtis Election Central Quote: |
A majority of Iowa Republicans wants to pull out "in the next six months"?
| Nothing to see here folks. Move along. |
11-15-2007, 04:37 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Just saw this headline on Yahoo's home page:
Iraqi Shiite rivals may use drop in violence to set stage for war |
11-16-2007, 02:13 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
"Senate blocks Iraq war money" Quote:
The Senate on Friday blocked a Democratic proposal that would have paid for the Iraq war but required that troops start coming home.
The 53-45 vote was seven votes short of the 60 needed to advance. It came minutes after the Senate rejected a Republican proposal to pay for the Iraq war with no strings attached.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the only way to get troops the money was to approve the restrictions outlined by Democrats.
| Is Congress finally growing a spine? The "with strings attached" version got more votes than the "without strings attached" proposal. Quote: |
"There is a misperception that this department can continue funding our troops in the field for an indefinite period of time through accounting maneuvers, that we can shuffle money around the department. This is a serious misconception," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon.
| Not that anybody has actually suggested that the DOD "can continue funding our troops in the field for an indefinite period of time through accounting maneuvers."
BTW, gotta love the honesty of this headline.
Last edited by erik_kosberg; 11-16-2007 at 02:22 PM.
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11-19-2007, 11:49 AM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
"Petraeus advisor sees U.S. troops in Iraq for 30 years" Quote: |
Without getting in to his arguments or my reservations, I just wanted to lay out Biddle’s best case scenario as he presented it: if everything goes right and if the US continues to “hit the lottery” with the spread of local ceasefires and none of a dozen different spoilers happens, then a patchwork of local ceasefires between heavily armed, mistrustful communities could possibly hold if and only if the US keeps 80,000-100,000 troops in Iraq for the next twenty to thirty years. And that’s the best case scenario of one of the current strategy’s smartest supporters. Man.
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Worst. President. Ever. |
11-25-2007, 04:20 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
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12-03-2007, 01:16 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
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12-11-2007, 04:37 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
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12-14-2007, 02:07 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
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12-19-2007, 12:44 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
"All Iraqi Groups Blame U.S. Invasion for Discord, Study Shows" Quote: |
Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of "occupying forces" as the key to national reconciliation, according to focus groups conducted for the U.S. military last month.
| Well, duh. |
01-18-2008, 06:57 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
In today's news: Quote:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq's army and police could be ready to take over security in all 18 provinces by the end of this year as the U.S. military moves toward a less prominent role in the country, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
"We look at it every month. We make recommendations. I think that if we continue along the path we're on now, we'll be able to do that by the end of 2008," Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said when asked when Iraqi forces could take the lead in all provinces.
He said that a joint operation under way led by Iraqi troops and supported by U.S. troops against al Qaeda militants in the northern city of Mosul was a model for the future.
"That's how I see our role frankly in the future here," he told Pentagon reporters via videolink from Baghdad.
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__________________ Support our Marines "If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other." - Carl Shurz, German general and politician |
01-19-2008, 04:48 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Quote: |
I think that if we continue along the path we're on now...
| Isn't this about the 47th if things continue blah blah blah optimistic prediction so far? Here's one from a year ago, probably the 29th if things continue blah blah blah optimistic prediction that didn't pan out. |
01-25-2008, 06:40 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Iraq announces 'decisive' offensive after attacks Quote: |
Shaken by two days of deadly bombings, the government said Friday it would dispatch several thousand more security forces to Mosul in a "decisive" bid to drive al-Qaida in Iraq from its last major stronghold.
| FARK.com Quote: |
Operation "Here We Go Again" about to commence in Mosul, Iraq. Soon to be followed up by the obligatory "We got Al-Qaeda's second-in-command" announcement
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02-11-2008, 12:40 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Gates: Iraq drawdown may be paused
I'm just shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Who could have possibly seen that coming? |
02-11-2008, 04:46 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
There's a RAND Corporation report on Iraq? See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Nothing to see here, move along. |
03-12-2008, 04:58 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
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03-17-2008, 06:56 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
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03-26-2008, 04:48 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Fred Kaplan in Slate: What Does Bush Mean by "Victory in Iraq"? Quote: |
...by the Bush administration's own standards of success, laid out in the president's speech and the NSC's strategy review, we are no closer to victory now than we were when those documents were drafted. Iraq is not unified, it is only superficially democratic, it cannot govern itself, its security forces cannot provide for the safety of its citizens, and it remains more of a haven for terrorists than an ally in the war against them.
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03-26-2008, 07:04 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Quote: conradd said
 | How many times have we heard this in the last five years?
They don't even try to be good liars any more. They'll put out this crap at the same time they're saying that the national police is "beyond repair" and the army is several years away from self-sustainment. So exactly who is going to step up and take control of security for the entire country in 2008?
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Hubba hubba hey. |
03-27-2008, 07:05 PM
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| | Re More evidence of "steady progress" in Iraq | |
Diplomats told to take cover in Baghdad - Yahoo! News Quote:
The State Department has instructed all personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad not to leave reinforced structures due to incoming insurgent rocket fire that has killed two American government workers this week.
In a memo sent Thursday to embassy staff and obtained by The Associated Press, the department says employees are required to wear helmets, body armor and other protective gear if they must venture outside and strongly advises them to sleep in blast-resistant locations instead of the less secure trailers that most occupy.
| It's just one success story after another, isn't it?
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