Marine Grunts Offered $30,000 to ReUP

[Nbadan]

SAN DIEGO -- With the prospect of continued fighting in Iraq, the Marine Corps is offering bonuses of as much as $30,000 -- in some cases, tax-free -- to persuade enlisted personnel with combat experience and training to reenlist.

The plan is working, officials said. Less than two months into the fiscal year, Marine reenlistment rates in several key specialties are running 10 percent to 30 percent ahead of last year.

Officials are confident that by midyear they will have reached their target for encouraging reenlistment among riflemen, the so-called grunts who are key to the Marines' ability to mount offensives against insurgent strongholds such as Fallujah, Iraq
...

''No amount of money is too much to retain combat experience in the corps, rather than starting over," said Major Mark Menotti, assistant head of enlisted retention for the Marine Corps.
...

Sergeant Joey W. McBroom, 30, of Lafayette, Tenn., a rifleman, said that he had planned to reenlist even without the bonus, but that the $28,039 ''helped my wife to agree to my reenlisting." In an e-mail from Iraq, McBroom said he plans to put 40 percent of the bonus in a mutual fund, 30 percent in an account for his children's college education, 15 percent in savings, and the remaining 15 percent for ''a nice wedding ring for the wife, finally."

Boston (http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/11/27/marines_offered_bonuses_to_reenlist)

I guess these guys hadn't heard they could be making $80-100K per tax-free driving for Halliburton or as a 'security guard' for Blackwell.

[Lee Harvey Oswald]

This would not be happening if Kerry was Prez.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I dunno what Dan wrote, just the subject post.

I imagine Dan is pissed because this wasn't an announcement about the draft being reinstituted, but instead like myself and others said when he asked where the troops were going to come from and we answered with more money for troops.

Sucks to be wrong all the time I guess, huh Dan?

[Nbadan]

This would not be happening if Kerry was Prez.

This wouldn't be happening if you had a worse aim either. :lol

[Nbadan]

I imagine Dan is pissed because this wasn't an announcement about the draft being reinstituted, but instead like myself and others said when he asked where the troops were going to come from and we answered with more money for troops.

Just reinforces my argument that the Armed Services are having trouble getting grunts already in the service to reup. This has nothing to do with were the Pentagon and DOD are gonna get additional troops to quell the unrest in Iraq and still be anything but a paper tiger to Iran, Syria, and North Korea.

[jalbre6]

Really, I think this is a good deal for everyone. It's a cash incentive for trained fighting men to stay for another hitch, especially when it's well known that most enlisted personnel don't make too much money. It's probably cheaper than training and outfitting new Marines. And finally, I'd rather pay and reward folks who signed up for service than draft ones who don't want to be in the military in the first place.

[Nbadan]

Really, I think this is a good deal for everyone. It's a cash incentive for trained fighting men to stay for another hitch, especially when it's well known that most enlisted personnel don't make too much money. It's probably cheaper than training and outfitting new Marines. And finally, I'd rather pay and reward folks who signed up for service than draft ones who don't want to be in the military in the first place.

Problem is, whose more likely to jump at the $30,0000 incentive, the son of a man making $30,000 per or the son of a politician, or corporate exec making $100K? What we have here is the poor, or economically disadvantaged fighting a war for oil interests who when everything is said and done in Iraq, will cash in to way more money than the American taxpayers are going to have to pay to keep these 'experienced fighters' in the field. They sure aren't going to tax themselves for these incentives.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

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Someone let me know if Dan's posting something I should be kicking his ass on this board or in real life over.

Four posts on the same topic Dan, you must really have your panties in a bunch.

But earlier this month, you were screaming about the draft, telling us all it was coming.

What did I tell you? We'd give people more money. You said "bullshit, we'll have a draft."

Two weeks later, Bush is re-elected, and we're giving 'em more money. It must suck to be wrong all the time huh Dan.

[jalbre6]

I don't agree with the war. I'm just tired of bitching about it to people that either (a) think I'm a liberal pansy, (b) think Bush is infallible, or (c) think we have some sort of moral obligation to the country of Iraq. That said, let the people who are there already take care of what we got into and then get home as quickly as possible.

I do agree with paying fighting men to stay in rather than drafting kids. And if the son of a politician or a corporate executive is in the service, more times than not they're officers anyway. The poor and uneducated always get the short end. A lot of times the reason they enlist is steady pay and a chance to get training and education.

Whatever reason there is for the US to have troops in Iraq, it benefits everyone for the conflict and occupation to end as quickly as possible. And if it takes cash incentives to keep trained personnel in country to finish this, fine by me.

[NeoConIV]

Someone let me know if Dan's posting something I should be kicking his ass on this board or in real life over.



He's introduced class warfare into the topic...gotta try another left wing angle when cornered I guess. Race card is coming next I presume.

[Lee Harvey Oswald]

This wouldn't be happening if you had a worse aim either. :lol

^RACK^ :lmao

[whottt]

AHF, it's the same old Dan...same old cynical America hating extremism that he tries to pass off as liberalism ....basically saying the same things that illiterate terrorists, whose only education comes from equally illiterate mulahs and clerics, say, and try to use in defense of their opressive ideology. You know...same things a homeless uneducated muslim says that is then parroted by wealthy elitist liberals as proof of their enlightenment. You know...the war for Oil cries, while being totally ignorant of how much we could have made of the OFF program if all we wanted was Oil. Stuff like that.



In a nutshell...Dan thinks it's evil for the US government to give poor people a choice to serve in the military...thinks it's evil for US Gov to offer them compensation to re-enlist...Seems to be ignorant of all the perks programs that go with military service, especially in wartime, that make 30k a huge amount of money to a soldier.

One thing is unusual though, he is unusually out of touch with the latest leftwing chicken little cries....He must not have heard the news about how much ass the US is kicking in Iraq, because he's in "poor defeated US soldier" mode instead of "our troops are baby killers" mode.


Oh and he and mouse are making jokes about Kennedy being assasinated.

[exstatic]

AHF - You and Marcus both seem to have major issues "ignoring" the people on your ignore list.

[Guru of Nothing]

Some people express themselves clearly, and then, some don't.

Is anyone opposed to these $30k re-enlistment bonuses?

I'm not.

[NeoConIV]

And, some can get past the frustration of the election results, and then, some don't.

[Guru of Nothing]

And, some can get past the frustration of the election results, and then, some don't.

Surely you don't assume I am overly frustrated by recent election results. Your reply left room to wonder.

[Spurminator]

I'm surprised you didn't call this a Bribe Draft or some shit.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Guru, I think his post was targeted at Dan, just a hunch though.

I don't see what Dan's problem is. He was bitching that if Bush got re-elected there'd be a draft, and judging by his profiling it'd be people "like him" who'd be sent over.

Some of us said, when asked where we were going to get the troops at to finisht the job over there, that they'd offer more money, and that Congress was working on said legislation.

Well lo and behold now Bush got re-elected, they upped the financial incentive for the military, and Dan is somehow bitching about it.

I forgot, the liberal gameplan is that earning your money isn't en vogue, you've gotta sit around on your ass all day, watch Oprah, collect government handouts, and bitch about how the rich are getting richer.

[wvahillbilly]

Sheet

They drafted me & sent me to Nam. I got nothing but 2 pairs of boots, uniform and
a hard time. Draft everyone and I'll bet them there folks in the service will get better pay and the pollliticians will pay attention. Rite now the polliticans pay us about as much attention as we do to dan. :lol

[NeoConIV]

I'll leave my targets unnamed, but that certainly wasn't at you Guru. I don't even know you you were leaning towards.

But I think AH is getting warm, one of the targets dwarfs all others!

[MannyIsGod]

Just reinforces my argument that the Armed Services are having trouble getting grunts already in the service to reup. This has nothing to do with were the Pentagon and DOD are gonna get additional troops to quell the unrest in Iraq and still be anything but a paper tiger to Iran, Syria, and North Korea.


Gee, soldiers in war think twice about staying in the trenchs, what an astute observation there.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

a paper tiger to Iran, Syria, and North Korea.

LOL, the moment any conflict starts with Iran, all their youths who are sick of the autocratic bullshit leadership they're getting will revolt, and Tehran is toast.

Syria? They know they can't do shit to us without having their ass handed to them and Assad is extremist but he ain't stupid.

North Korea? Idiots like you crack me up. If NK tries anything, it is suddenly dealing with SK to the south, US/Britain/Japan from the south and coast, China/Russia from the west. Yeah, that'll be a long battle. Dumbass.