Thursday, May 12, 2005

hmmmm!

A New York Times Article by Damien Cave today said, in part:
Responding to reports about widespread abuses of the rules for recruitment, Army officials said yesterday that they would suspend all recruiting on May 20 and use the day to retrain its personnel in military ethics and the laws that govern what can and cannot be done to enlist an applicant. ...
Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the recruiting command at its headquarters in Fort Knox, Ky, ... said the Army would re-introduce recruiters to legal recruiting practices and the rules that prohibit them from lying to applicants or hiding information from the military that could make them ineligible to serve. He said the focus of the day would also be on reminding recruiters to take advantage of counseling services that might alleviate stress brought on by long workdays and the repeated rejection of their appeals by prospects.

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Blogger Liz Opp said...

Thanks for highlighting this article, Rich. The rest of the article is worth reading. Here's another part that caught my attention, towards the end:

Recruiters and former Army officials say [increases in improprieties] are related to the extraordinary pressure being put on recruiters, who must meet quotas of roughly two recruits a month. The strain is breeding not just abuses, they said, but also stress-related illnesses, damaged marriages and even thoughts of suicide among some.

For one thing, I hadn't realized that recruitment quotas were so low at just two a month per recruiter.

For another thing, though, had this been a Quaker organization, I'd like to think that someone would have stood up and said, Friends, it seems as though the Way is not open for us to pursue recruitment in this manner. In this case, the fruits of the Spirit are... well, not at all reflective of peace, love, joy, kindness, patience...

Blessings,
Liz, The Good Raised Up

12:05 AM, May 13, 2005  

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