Tuesday - February 20, 2007

Criminals With Guns?

The editors at the NY SLIMES are deeply concerned. They are worried that you and I are being protected by criminals ... with guns ... in the military. They make out like the Army is just grabbing every murderer, rapist and bank robber off the street, handing them a gun, throwing them in the front lines and forgetting about them.

WRONG! Anyone who has served in the military knows better. To listen to the editors here, you’d think the Army is going to hell thanks to extended tours during the current conflict. I’m so glad the TIMES is looking out for our brave troops but it’s obvious none of them ever served. If they had they’d know that in the military the first thing you learn is discipline. Next is cooperation. Finally, comes responsibility.

Over the course of the last few centuries there have been millions of “bad boys” who redeemed themselves by serving in the military. The ones who don’t shape up are quickly sent packing.

The TIMES seems to think the Army needs to do a better job of selling itself to our young people. That would be the same young people the TIMES and their Liberal readers encourage to hate the military. The TIMES also wants the Army to treat the troops better and ignore logistical needs. Aren’t you glad we have these wonderful military experts at the TIMES to help us straighten out the military? GRRRRRR ....

I have a better solution that is a win-win situation for everyone. Why don’t we establish four-year mandatory service period for all high school graduates. When you graduate from high school you have a choice: (1) enlist in any of the armed services for four years, or (2) sign up for service in the Peace Corps for four years. When your four years of service are complete ... BINGO! ... you are entitled to four years of fully paid college education -or- an equivalent lump sum payment to be used to start a business.

It’ll work, I tell you. The kids who love this country and like the idea of military service get to do what they want and get rewarded for it. The Leftist peaceniks who hate America and despise the military get to help the poor, downtrodden people of the world and get rewarded for it too. Either way, we build generations of individuals who have learned to endure hardship and understand what it means to be of service to our country and the world.

Forget the whining editors at the TIMES, let’s do the right thing by our kids. Teach them to be real ... and reward them for it. This country will be a much better place for it.

Moral Waivers and the Military
_{(NY TIMES) - February 20, 2007}

The Iraq war has plunged the Army into a vicious cycle of declining standards. Multiple, extended tours of duty have sapped morale and blighted recruiting. New plans for a larger overall force could reduce pressures but would also mean that recruiters would have to meet higher quotas.

To keep filling the ranks, the Army has had to keep lowering its expectations. Diluting educational, aptitude and medical standards has not been enough. Nor have larger enlistment bonuses plugged the gap. So the Army has found itself recklessly expanding the granting of “moral waivers,” which let people convicted of serious misdemeanors and even some felonies enlist in its ranks.

Last year, such waivers were granted to 8,129 men and women — or more than one out of every 10 new Army recruits. That number is up 65 percent since 2003, the year President Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq. In the last three years, more than 125,000 moral waivers have been granted by America’s four military services.

Most of last year’s Army waivers were for serious misdemeanors, like aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and vehicular homicide. But around 900 — double the number in 2003 — were for felonies. Worse, the Army does no systematic tracking of recruits with waivers once it signs them up, and it does not always pay enough attention to any adjustment problems. Without adequate monitoring and counseling, handing out guns to people who have already committed crimes poses a danger to the other soldiers they serve with and to the innocent civilians they are supposed to protect.

There is a long and honorable history of young people who have had minor scrapes with the law joining the military and successfully turning their lives around. But those who have committed more serious crimes, especially those involving weapons, vehicular homicide or sexual abuse, should generally be denied moral waivers. And those who do qualify for waivers should be monitored, counseled and carefully supervised.

The fastest way to drop the rate of moral waivers would be for the Army to rebuild its recently tarnished reputation among less problematic young Americans. That will require an end to involuntarily extended tours of duty and accelerated, multiple redeployments into combat. The military is America’s face to much of the world. It ought to present the best face of American youth.

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/20/2007 at 11:44 AM   
Filed Under: • Editorials • Military •  
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