Army re-enlistment ahead of schedule, was: Re: [extropy-chat] give a small window into the military mind

[Mike Lorrey]

This just doesn't wash, Samantha. Firstly, a unit that has 70-97%
retention has no need of a 'lemming effect'. Secondly, the guy on the
ground in Iraq should know better than a kid out of high school what
the trade offs are: he's older and more experienced in both work on the
outside as well as what is going on in Iraq. It should be easier for a
recruiter to snowjob a high school kid into enlisting than getting an
experienced trooper to re-up if things were so bad over there. The fact
that it is the reverse indicates things aren't so bad at all and kids
here are being lied to by the media.

If the civilian economy were a worse option, then high school kids
should be signing up more than previously, while experienced troopers
would be more likely to go civilian because they have more skills and
experience than a kid out of high school.

If the statistics were not accurate, I am positive that liberal
democrats (and particularly socialist rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)) on
the armed services committees would make the facts known and use it to
beat a drum of Bush lying.

--- Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:

> More likely explanation is that the stats are biased to attempt a  
> lemming effect on others to re-enlist.  Unless you have been hiding  
> in a very deep foxhole indeed it doesn't look like a very   
> intelligent choice.  Of course the economy looks pretty poor outside 
> the military and their may be other contributing factors.   I would  
> want independent verification of such statistics at the very least.
> 
> - samantha
> 
> On Jul 6, 2005, at 7:13 AM, Mike Lorrey wrote:
> 
> > http://www.military.com/NewsContent/ 
> > 0,13319,FL_reenlist_070505,00.html?ESRC=dod.nl
> >
> > "Even though the Army appears likely to miss its goal of recruiting
> > 80,000 new soldiers this year, it's ahead of the pace needed to
> reach
> > its goal of convincing 64,162 soldiers, from privates to top  
> > sergeants,
> > to re-enlist by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
> >
> > Through the end of May, 45,333 soldiers had re-enlisted, said Lt.
> Col.
> > Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon. That's 70 percent
> of
> > the Army's full-year goal.
> >
> > Nearly 11,000 soldiers from the elite 18th Airborne Corps, which
> > includes four of the Army's 10 active divisions, have "re-upped"
> this
> > year. That's about 86 percent of the corps' full-year goal, said
> the
> > corps commander, Maj. Gen. Virgil Packett.
> >
> > "The 18th Airborne Corps is carrying the Army right now in
> retention,"
> > Packett said.
> >
> > And leading the corps is the 82nd Airborne, which has reached 97
> > percent of its annual goal, even though it has deployed regularly
> to
> > Iraq and Afghanistan. "
> >
> > First point:
> > This is an interesting dichotomy: the soldiers who are actually on
> the
> > ground and putting their lives at risk (and know what is really
> going
> > on in Iraq and Afghanistan) are re-enlisting far above levels the
> Army
> > was projecting, while recruitment of civilians (who only see what
> the
> > media tells them) is not likely to meet goals.
> >
> > So, this seems to imply that the media is giving a biased and
> overly
> > negative view of what is really going on at the battlefront (plus
> > civilians are subject to a lot more negative propaganda they are
> more
> > likely to give credence to than a war veteran would).
> >
> > Second Point:
> > The large increase in re-enlistment will mean the Army will meet
> its
> > manpower goals once again this year, i.e. no draft (sorry
> Samantha).
> > Moreover, since the manpower will constitute more experienced  
> > veterans,
> > the average unit effectiveness will go up and training costs  
> > (including
> > accidents and rookies puting comrades at risk in combat) will go
> down.
> >
> >
> > Mike Lorrey
> > Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
> > "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
> > It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
> >                                       -William Pitt (1759-1806)
> > Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com
> >
> >
> >
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Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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