[amc] Defense official says recruitment declining
- From: Werner S <wjs3108@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Mennonite Church Austin <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 17:57:39 -0800 (PST)
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53153
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Defense official says recruitment declining
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, March 8, 2008
A senior Defense official says U.S. military
recruitment is declining despite studies suggesting
the armed forces are more diverse and educated than
ever, The Washington Times reported Friday.
David Chu, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and
readiness, and other military and data analysts
discussed the issue Thursday at the Heritage
Foundation, the Times reported.
The longevity of the Iraq war, a negative view of
military life and rising obesity rates nationwide were
cited as principal reasons for the decline, the Times
noted.
About a third of potential military recruits are
rejected because of an inability to meet physical
standards, according to Department of Defense material
presented by Chu, the paper reported.
Lawrence Kapp, a specialist in military manpower
policy for the Congressional Research Service, said it
is difficult to convince high school graduates that
the military is a viable and worthy endeavor. CRS
studies reveal a large number of people with the
?propensity to enlist,? but 85 percent of them don?t,
according to the Times.
?Enlistment in the military carries a connotation of a
kind of blue-collar position,? he said.
Kapp told the gathering, however, that higher
standards for enlistment have produced a military that
is highly qualified and more educated than the rest of
the U.S. population. About 97 percent of military
recruits have high school diplomas, compared with
roughly 80 percent in the general population,
according to his department?s studies.
?There has to be some way to reconnect military
service with the white-collar expectation of some of
the youth today,? he said.
© 2007 Stars and Stripes. All Rights Reserved.
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