Marines Miss Rare Recruiting Goal

[Nbadan]

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Marine Corps in January missed its monthly recruiting goal, in what military officials said was the latest troubling indicator of the Iraq war's impact on the armed services.

The struggles of the Army, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard to recruit and retain soldiers have received national attention in recent months. But the recent failure of the Marines, who historically have had the luxury of turning away willing recruits, is a potential problem for the service.

The Marines missed their January goal of 3,270 recruits by 84 people, or less than 3 percent. The Marines last missed a monthly goal in July 1995, and 1995 was also the last full year in which the corps fell short of its annual recruiting quota, said Maj. Dave Griesmer, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

Richard H. Kohn, a military historian at the University of North Carolina, said, "It's most troubling because the Marines tend to attract people who are the most macho, seek the most danger and are attracted by the service most likely to put them into combat."

<snip>

Sgt. Kimberly Leone, a marketing and public affairs representative at the Marine recruiting station in Chicago, said one new recruiting strategy would involve sending the Marine Corps Band from San Diego to high schools across the country.

NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/03/politics/03marines.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=)

Color me shocked! Where are all the GOP Patriots?

Humm..let's work some numbers, 1,400 KIAs out of approximately 140,000 troops in Iraq.

That's a 1 in 100 chance of getting permanently killed. Even the most stone-brained kid out of high school can probably figure that one out.

Approximately 15% of veterans exhibit symptoms of mental illness within four months of their return stateside and report difficulties in readjusting to life where you aren't in danger of getting blown up minute by minute.

So if you avoid the 1 in 100 chance of getting killed, you have a 1 in 6 or 1 in 7 chance of coming back with mental problems that may or may not ever be treatable.

Numbers for wounded and disabled are a little hard to come by, as the military hasn't been real forthcoming with that information and the media have been as incurious about that as they have been about anything else connected to the corrupt administration, but I've seen numbers in the low five figures for folks coming back with fewer body parts than they left the country with. We'll call it a 1 in 10 chance to err on the side of caution.

And the recruiters can't get kids to sign on the dotted line to try their luck in that lottery? Common...

[office handle]

what about the figures for being temporarily killed?

[Useruser666]

Hooray for Dan!!! They missed the goal by 84 people?

[Nbadan]

what about the figures for being temporarily killed?

Hey now, you get $12,000 so there, STFU.

[Clandestino]

they missed their goals before... no big deal.. 84 people.. dan, i'm sure you're a terrorist.. no one could possibly hate the u.s. more than you...

[office handle]

so if you dont agree with the invasion of iraq you are a "terrorist" and "hate the u.s."?

[Clandestino]

so if you dont agree with the invasion of iraq you are a "terrorist" and "hate the u.s."?


no, but dan has never said one thing positive about the u.s. everything he spews is hatred toward the u.s. if he truly feels that way, he should move out of the country.. if not, he should stfu..

[office handle]

most of his vitriol seems to be directed against the policies of the bush administration. does the administration = the country?

[Clandestino]

most of his vitriol seems to be directed against the policies of the bush administration. does the administration = the country?

are you his lawyer or what?

but anyway..he has never posted one thing positive about the admin, the country by itself or anything about the u.s. in general... everything is pure hatred..

[bigzak25]

i'm sorry, but if you sign up to be a marine, then you are signing up to be on the frontlines in the event of war, thus you realize you have a 100% chance of putting your life on the line for your country. that's whey the marines are considered the baddest mutherfuckers on the planet.

by my math, that's 3186 new recruits in January alone. hardly a crisis.

[office handle]

no, not his lawyer just someone who thinks its a bit much to start labelling political opponents as "terrorists" who "hate" their country.

he posts negative things about the administration in this forum and others post positive things. it evens out

[Useruser666]

I think people develop their opinioons of Dan from the seemingly celebritory way he posts and then comments here.

[whottt]

Actually, what's pathetic about Dan is that he is editing articles for effect...

Observe:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 - For the first time in nearly a decade, the Marine Corps in January missed its monthly recruiting goal, in what military officials said was the latest troubling indicator of the Iraq war's impact on the armed services.
The struggles of the Army, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard to recruit and retain soldiers have received national attention in recent months. But the recent failure of the Marines, who historically have had the luxury of turning away willing recruits, is a potential problem for the service.
The Marines missed their January goal of 3,270 recruits by 84 people, or less than 3 percent. The Marines last missed a monthly goal in July 1995, and 1995 was also the last full year in which the corps fell short of its annual recruiting quota, said Maj. Dave Griesmer, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.
Richard H. Kohn, a military historian at the University of North Carolina, said, "It's most troubling because the Marines tend to attract people who are the most macho, seek the most danger and are attracted by the service most likely to put them into combat."
Senior Marine personnel officials say that one month is hardly a trend, that the Marine Corps is slightly ahead of pace for the fiscal year beginning last October and that they fully expect to meet their overall goal for the year. But senior officers acknowledge that the drop in January - and close calls in November and December - could be linked to the widely publicized risks in Iraq.
"Do Iraq and Afghanistan have an impact? Yes," Brig. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, the head of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, said in a telephone interview. "But I am very optimistic we will meet our goal over all."
On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, senior Army officers warned of worrisome recruiting trends and told of steps they were taking to address them. Lt. Gen. Roger C. Schultz, the chief of the Army National Guard, told the House Armed Services Committee that the Guard was retaining many of its top soldiers but failing to meet goals for recruits. In January, he said, the Guard met only 56 percent of its quota. Both the National Guard and the Army Reserve are increasing the number of recruiters in the field, officers said.
In a reflection of the difficult market for Marine recruiters, the service offers bonuses of up to $30,000 to retain combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than relying mainly on replenishing its infantry with troops fresh from boot camp. About 75 percent of enlisted marines leave the service after their first tour, requiring a steady stream of recruits moving through training centers in San Diego and Parris Island, S.C.
Even as the Marine Corps strains to meet its recruiting targets, the Air Force and Navy are flush with recruits and are actually shrinking their overall ranks. Military personnel experts say there are indications that young people interested in joining the military may be turning to the Air Force and Navy, which have suffered relatively few casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. In contrast, the Marines make up about 21 percent of the fighting force in Iraq now but have suffered 31 percent of the military deaths there, according to Pentagon statistics.
"It's not surprising that the Navy and Air Force would be doing just fine," said Professor Kohn. "Kids getting a start in the military will migrate to the physically safer services, and it seems to them that they'll get more technical training there."
General Gaskin said that despite missing January's goal, which was first reported by ABC News on Tuesday night, the Marine Corps was in no danger of running out of recruits for boot camp. Because of strong recruiting last year, the Marines entered the current fiscal year having already signed up 52 percent of their 2005 quota, he said. Typically, a recruit is sent to boot camp several months after signing an enlistment contract.
The Marines are devising recruiting strategies and offering signing bonuses of $2,000 to $5,000 for specialized jobs, like linguists and avionics technicians.
Sgt. Kimberly Leone, a marketing and public affairs representative at the Marine recruiting station in Chicago, said one new recruiting strategy would involve sending the Marine Corps Band from San Diego to high schools across the country.
Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington for this article, and Gretchen Ruethling from Chicago.


And I imagine that it's the media and people who go around painting the war situation as being much more bleak than it actually is, who have hurt our military the most...pat yourselves on the back.

[whottt]

I will say this about Dan though...at least he's consistent.

Would you guys really want him to all of a sudden start flipflopping and reversing his stance on everything 2 months after an election?

I wouldn't. That would make him even more uncredible IMO.

Anyone can flip flop and go with what they feel is the tide...

[Clandestino]

yeah, that is very pathetic... his editing... it is probably the way he sees news articles in his warped mind..

[office handle]

I will say this about Dan though...at least he's consistent.

Would you guys really want him to all of a sudden start flipflopping and reversing his stance on everything 2 months after an election?

I wouldn't. That would make him even more uncredible IMO.

Anyone can flip flop and go with what they feel is the tide...


funny, the only thing ive argued is that the invasion was never based on "exporting democracy" and that while the invasion was based on erroneous intel, bush made the correct decision given the circumstance.

so my stance hasnt reversed, but feel free to continue following me around the forum like a lost little puppy saying whatever you want

[JoeChalupa]

That is why they are called The Few, The Proud, The Marines.

Semp Fi!!

[whottt]

Um what exactly is your problem? I'm not following you around the forum...if you look you'll see I had a legitimate point to make per Dan editing the original article.

Furthermore, my flip flopping point was actually a defense of Dan(which is essentially what you were doing) and not an attack on yourself...so I don't appreciate you hi-jacking my point...and being a hypocrite while you are doing it.

Don't go crying wolf and accusing me of following you around the forum just because others might share my stance on certain issues...I'd certainly like to think that I am not the only smart person on the forum.

And BTW, I was bsing when I said I had a second nick...so calm down and stop embarrassing yourself, because it aint me...and you can ask the owners of the board if you doubt this.

[JoeChalupa]

I will say this about Dan though...at least he's consistent.

Would you guys really want him to all of a sudden start flipflopping and reversing his stance on everything 2 months after an election?

I wouldn't. That would make him even more uncredible IMO.

Anyone can flip flop and go with what they feel is the tide...

Calling it flip-flopping may be the issue.

I don't about you all but I've known many intelligent people who have made a decision and then, by golly, they realized it may not have been the best decision and changed their view after reviewing new information or data.

It happens all the time. CEO's get canned for making bad decisions all the time and some save their jobs by making corrections.

[whottt]

Calling it flip-flopping may be the issue.

I don't about you all but I've known many intelligent people who have made a decision and then, by golly, they realized it may not have been the best decision and changed their view after reviewing new information or data.

It happens all the time. CEO's get canned for making bad decisions all the time and some save their jobs by making corrections.

True...it just depends on why you are changing your stance, and how righteous you are acting after doing so.

[office handle]

And BTW, I was bsing when I said I had a second nick...so calm down and stop embarrassing yourself, because it aint me...and you can ask the owners of the board if you doubt this.

actually i was referring to everything youve been posting under that handle. i could care less what other handles you or anyone else have

[whottt]

actually i was referring to everything youve been posting under that handle. i could care less what other handles you or anyone else have

What in the fuck are you talking about? Link? All my recent responses to you have been solicited by you first. Get over yourself.

[office handle]

you first

[whottt]

Someone needs to stick a toe up your kitten...er pussy. You fool no one.

[office handle]

if i wanted to i would. you worry about the probity of using multiple handles all you want

[whottt]

I've really got no problem with you doing it, in fact I often get a sense of amusment out of your obessive compulsive disorder type persona...

However it takes balls and a lack of brains to accuse me of following you around when you are the one that is always harrassing one person or another with your various nicks.

[office handle]

jump, bitch

[whottt]

Said the guy who replied after 3 minutes to the guy who replied after 20.