[Soresbox]

The fiscal year is over and the US Military met and exceeded nearly all of its recruiting goals. No doubt some of this is due to greater incentives, but you do have to admit that these numbers are not as sexy for the media anymore. Truth is soldiers want to be in the military, they believe in the mission. That is shown by the retention numbers.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/...1011-4881.html

Fiscal Year-to-date Summary


Fiscal 2005 Active Duty Enlisted Recruiting from Oct. 1, 2004-Sept. 30, 2005


Accessions Goal Percent
Army 73,373 80,000 92
Navy 37,703 37,635 100
Marine Corps 32,961 32,917 100
Air Force 19,222 18,900 102
Total 163,259 169,452 96

[ffflyer]

Even if the soldiers don't support the war in Iraq, going into the armed forces just makes all kinds of sense.

Free college, career experience that will take you anywhere, and the supporting of your country. The military is a great option for nearly everybody.

[Plaumpholavup]

Even if the soldiers don't support the war in Iraq, going into the armed forces just makes all kinds of sense.

Free college, career experience that will take you anywhere, and the supporting of your country. The military is a great option for nearly everybody.

Except for the trade-off that it IS a deadly business by its nature. You stand a much bigger chance of coming home from work in a coffin than almost any civilian. (And unless you go to one of the academies, college isn't totally free. Not by a long shot.)

I would bet that a very large percentage of servicemen and women are there because they felt financially pressured to join.

[rushiddink]

Most of the people I work with joined for the free college. And it is free to an extent, though the services do have differing programs.

Everyone gets the GI Bill. You pay 1200, and you get 30-40k in college benefits after 3 years of service, which basicaly means after you get out of the military. The Air Force will pay 100% tuition fees as long as you are in the AF, and other services have something similar, though it may not always be 100%.(of course, most people don't like to work a 10-12 hour shift and then go to school in the night, but it is available, and depending on how lax your workcenter is, you may even be able to take classes during the duty day)

Many military technical schools actually have nearly an associates degree in college credits upon completion. When I finished my Sat Comm tech-school after 10 months, I was 9 credits from my associates.

Military pay is also pretty decent if you add up all the benefits. After 3 years, you are making about 30-40k a year, which isn't all that bad for starting at scratch. And that isn't including the Tax free income, combat pay, hazard pay, etc you get in the desert.

And then there are sign on bonuses, and resign bonuses. When I joined, I got 5k. Some got as high as 20k. Today, some new Army recruits are getting 40k bonuses. Not bad at all.

The death rate really isn't that bad. 400k troops have passed through Iraq, and only 2k have died. That is 1/2% mortality rate. Half a percent of the people who go over there die. Not very scary numbers really, but I guess the networks love to throw it at us day after day. If you happen to loose a foot or something, chances are that you will get medically discharged and will get payed salary on top of medical treatment for years afterword.