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

[Samantha Atkins]

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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