[Head Line:] Army addresses spate of recruiting misconduct

By Will Dunham

Fri May 20, 5:44 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -



The U.S. Army, struggling to sign up new soldiers amid the Iraq war, took a one-day break from recruiting on Friday to try to put an end to a spate of incidents of misconduct by its recruiters.

[What is actually their policy is referred to as “a spate of incidents” and what is really fraud is referred to as “misconduct”] [It is doubtful that a problem this widespread could be addressed in one day]

Maj. Gen. Michael Rochelle, head of the Army Recruiting Command, emphasized the need for integrity and playing by the rules in remarks delivered by video to the Army's 7,500 recruiters at 1,700 recruiting stations nationwide.

The Army is examining allegations its recruiters offered to help people cheat on drug tests or get phony diplomas in order to enlist.

[What they are really examining is how the evidence of the practice got on the news and how to avoid it in the future]

In a recent incident in Texas, a recruiter threatened a 20-year-old man with arrest if he did not get to an interview at a recruiting station by a given time. The recruiter then sought to explain the threat as a "marketing technique."

[This “marketing technique” is widely used, one of these recruiters may be singled out for a cover up trial, but the practice will continue, recruiters are under orders to sign up people any way they can]

In his video remarks, Rochelle asked honest recruiters to call attention to any misconduct by colleagues.

[Rochelle is making a public statement asking the recruiters to rat on their co-workers, privately he knows they will not do this]

Also appearing at a Pentagon briefing, Rochelle told reporters there was no gray area in recruiting techniques.

"There is no relativism there. It's either right or it's wrong," he said.

[A separate speech is given to reporters than the video broadcast to recruiters, why? Well, the army has a different message for its recruiters than the story it wants to feed the media outlets]

Rochelle said the Army was making a sacrifice by holding the one-day "stand down," saying as many as 1,000 recruits otherwise would have been expected to enlist on Friday in the active-duty Army or part-time Army Reserve. He said he hoped they eventually would sign up anyway.

[Rochelle’s message to the public, a subtle form of recruiting by guilt here]

The Army has said it is probing 480 allegations of improper conduct by recruiters in fiscal 2005, which began Oct. 1.

Recruiters have said potential recruits and their families are wary about volunteering during wartime.

[Really? I can’t imagine what they could be wary about]

The Army provides the majority of the U.S. ground forces fighting in Iraq. The Pentagon on Friday listed 1,623 U.S. military deaths in the 26-month war, with another 12,516 troops wounded in combat.

[Oh yeah, the getting killed or wounded part, that must be what people are wary about]

RECRUITERS UNDER PRESSURE

[What follows is actually propaganda to soften up the minds of vulnerable readers. It is more recruiting! All this in article that claims to be about the abuses of recruiters]

With the Army in danger of missing an annual recruiting goal for the first time since 1999, recruiters have been under considerable pressure of late.

Aiming to sign 80,000 recruits in fiscal 2005, from Oct. 1, 2004 to Sept. 30, 2005, the Army has missed its goals in three straight months, including falling 42 percent short in April, and is 16 percent behind its year-to-date recruiting target.

Rochelle said the Army will not lower the quota of signing two recruits per month that recruiters must meet. He also said the Army does not plan to lower its standards to allow more people to be eligible to sign up.

To shore up manpower, the Army has increased its financial incentives for enlistment while also sweetening incentives for soldiers already in the military to re-enlist.

[A private first class is paid 23,350 a year]

The Army in March said it would appeal to the patriotism of young people to try to coax them to sign up.

[“coax young people”!]

It also recently launched a new television advertising campaign seeking to convince parents and others who have influence over young people of the value of military service.

[Taxpayers footing the bill for the production of TV propaganda designed to coax them with lies and false promises] [but just wait till you see the special effects and hear the music that goes into this video, you will want to enlist too :-)]

Rochelle said he had seen no evidence the recent campaign had boosted recruiting, but said it was too early to judge.

[Rochelle could lose his job any day now or be reassigned to Iraq]

"Today's conditions represent the most challenging conditions we have seen in recruiting in my 33 years in this uniform," he said. "We are faced with very low unemployment (and) the first time that the all-volunteer force has been challenged in sustained land combat."

America abolished the draft in 1973 during the Vietnam War era and has since relied on a military made up of volunteers.

[The above is designed to promote a return of the draft]

Rochelle also said he ordered a one-day suspension of recruiting in December to address "force protection issues" amid threats made against recruiters. "I don't want to go into the details of this, for fear of creating copycats," Rochelle said.

[Now we hear for the first time about another one-day suspension back in December due to “threats”. This is the most disturbing statement of all, it is an unveiled threat to the large and growing grassroots counter-recruitment movement in the US. Anti-war activists have regrouped and are rallying around this campaign. The corporate news outlets are banned from reporting the full scope of it, so it is mostly unknown to the general public, but the recruiters see it every day. Be care out there activists, this statement could be only a threat to intimidate or the start of a coming backlash]