Topic category:  Other/General

by Jim Kouri, CPP

Despite news stories and antiwar partisans claiming that military recruitment numbers are down and not meeting Defense Department goals, a Pentagon report shows otherwise.

Each of the branches of the military -- Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force -- have met or exceeded their recruitment goals for the 13th month in a row, in spite of not being allowed on many college and high school campuses.

The Pentagon report states, "Active-duty recruiting numbers, both for June and for the first nine months of fiscal 2006, continued to exceed 100 percent of goal across the board."

The DoD also said that the quality of news recruits remains high, with "more than 90 percent of all recruits have high school diplomas and nearly two-thirds have scored in the top 50 percent of [written examinations]."

Officials at the Pentagon call news media reports that they lowered their recruiting standards, in order to keep up numbers, is a "myth."

According to the Pentagon report, in June, the Army recruited more than 8,700 soldiers, 102 percent of its goal; the Marine Corps signed on more than 4,300 Marines, 105 percent of its goal; the Navy met its goal of recruiting more than 3,900 sailors; and the Air Force exceeded its goal by 1 percent, bringing in more than 2,500 airmen.

But don't look for those figures to get coverage in the New York Times, the big three network news shows and the rest of the denizens of this nation's newsrooms. At best they will move on to some other negative story regarding the military, at worst they'll just keep repeating Democrat Party lies.

An excellent example of the Democrats moving on in their attacks on the US military is Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) telling reporters during a news conference that there is a crisis with soldiers in Iraq taking antidepressants and doing into combat with mental illness problems. Listening to her, one would think we were fielding an army of psychopaths and mental patients.

Not once did Senator Boxer, a stanch antiwar Democrat mention from where she got such information. However, it didn't take long for her to back away from her allegation when the Pentagon and military experts said Boxer was wrong. They used words that cannot be reprinted here, but one colonel who's been in Iraq said she's full of something.

The Pentagon stated that no soldiers or marines would be allowed into combat while being treated for depression. But I'm sure they cannot speak for Boxer's mental condition.

Jim Kouri
Chief of Police Magazine (Contributing Editor)

Biography - Jim Kouri

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for a number of organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. Kouri holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice and master of arts in public administration and he's a board certified protection professional.