Where Will the Soldiers Come From?

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A botched and unpopular war has the military routinely missing recruitment goals. Existing ground troops are stretched thin, and third and fourth tours of duty are becoming routine. Despite this bleak outlook, President Bush is trumpeting a plan to send even more troops to Iraq, leaving the obvious question: Just where will these troops come from?

So far, recruiters have looked in some pretty questionable places. As the San Francisco Chronicle noted in a piece drawing from various media reports, the number of recruits with a history of 'aggravated assault, robbery, vehicular manslaughter, receiving stolen property, and making terrorist threats' rose by more than 54 percent from 2004 to 2005. Recruits with waivers for health problems and misdemeanors have more than doubled since 2001. Recruiters have even tapped youth prisons.

More recently, the Marine Corps emailed college students invitations to 'a uniform-less summer camp to test their 'leadership potential,' with no commitment to the Corps necessary,' Tom Engelhardt reports in the Nation's blog, the Notion. Draws included payments of $2,400 for six weeks (or $4,000 for 10 weeks) and tuition assistance. Similar perks have been promised to recruits who have been heavily sought-out -- some say disproportionately -- in low-income and rural areas. All this recruiting isn't cheap. Engelhardt reports that the military just paid $1 billion for its new 'Army Strong' campaign, which includes Spanish-language ads.

Now, it seems the military may pursue yet another avenue: going abroad to recruit soldiers. Bryan Bender reported in the BostonGlobe late last month that Pentagon officials are considering the idea of opening 'recruiting stations' overseas. Though the proposal is still 'largely on the drawing board,' Bender reports that 'Army officials, who asked not to be identified, said personnel officials are working with Congress and other parts of the government to test the feasibility of going beyond US borders to recruit soldiers and Marines.'

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