An Army of one wrong recruit

The Oregonian ^ | 5/7/06 | MICHELLE ROBERTS

[T-Bird45]

I experienced the result of a fraudulent enlistment of a man in my artillery battery back in 1980. The man told me the recruiter gave him the answers to the ASVAB so he could qualify for enlistment. It didn't take more than 5 minutes of conversation with this soldier to figure out he was not Army material.

[T-Bird45]

ping

[zeaal]

And then there is the kid that made some mistakes as a teen, has gotten himself on the straight and narrow, clean and sober and truly wanted to serve his country. Took the ASVAB, scored in the 99 percentile. Then had to answer the questionnaire. Told the recruiter that he had done some drugs in his youth and the recruiter told him to lie on the questionnaire that he had not done those things. So, the kid refuses to lie to get in and the Army lost an outstanding young man.

[DuckFan4ever]

Past drug use isn't an automatic disqualifier. At least it wasn't when I enlisted. They wanted disclosure and an understanding that there would be no further use. I hadn't used at all so it wasn't an issue for me. One guy I enlisted with claimed to have used marijuana several hundred times and had to get a waiver from someone higher up the command chain.

[ansel12]

"had signed up for the Army's most dangerous job: cavalry scout."

This writer is good, she was able to declare the most dangerous job in the Army, with absolute certainty.

That should finally settle that question.

I'm being a little sarcastic.

[Wristpin]

That's just thing thing here...by the time they exclude the drug users, the criminal record holders, the ritalin kids, the obese, the tatooed, and the low test scorers, only about 30 percent of the population is even eligible.

[Radix]

There was enough lying BS in this article that I never made it half way through.

[T-Bird45]

There was enough lying BS in this article that I never made it half way through.

Care to be specific?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

SGT Alejandro Velasco does not appear to have covered himself with glory. IF the press story is true, that whole station has to go down to maintain the integrity of the Army.

[El Gato]

Jared's story illustrates a growing national problem as the military faces increasing pressure to hit recruiting targets during an unpopular war.

It's an "unpopular war", because that's the only sort the media elites will allow. Thus they slant their coverage appropriately. That's under a republican administration at least, under the 'toon administration, they championed bombing people who never threatened us, and were in fact fighting against the sort of people, radical Muslim "nationalists" that is, who attacked us on 9-11.

[joesnuffy]

The Army's most dangerous job is MOS 94BP

in an MOS 43E unit....

trust me I've seen what can happen...and it isn't pretty...

[El Gato]

That's just thing thing here...by the time they exclude the drug users, the criminal record holders, the ritalin kids, the obese, the tatooed, and the low test scorers, only about 30 percent of the population is even eligible.

Tatooed? I live right outside Ft. Hood, almost every enlisted soldier, and some of the officers, I see is tatooed.

[T-Bird45]

The Army's most dangerous job is MOS 94BP in an MOS 43E unit....

Please translate for those of us who have been out too long to remember every MOS designation.

[joesnuffy]

airborne qualified cook in a parachute rigger unit...;)

[Blueflag]

Electronics maintenance in a what kind of unit? what MOS is 43?

[Larry Lucido]

They took me.

'Nuff said.

[T-Bird45]

Thanks for the translation, got the meaning/joke now. Were the riggers extra careful when they rigged your mobile kitchen for the drop to ensure they had hot chow in the field...:-)

[Radix]

"In Houston, a recruiter warned a potential enlistee that if he backed out of a meeting he would be arrested."

Is that specific enough?

How about this?

"...the Army's most dangerous job: cavalry scout."

Really?

"Matthew told his mother that military recruiting at the school and surrounding neighborhoods was so intense that one recruiter had pulled him out of football practice."

Do you really buy this garbage?

[TankerKC]

How in the world do you get and remember the ASVAB answers?