Military grants more waivers to recruits

[superconnected]

WASHINGTON - The Army and Marine Corps are letting in more recruits with criminal records, including some with felony convictions, reflecting the increased pressure of five years of war and its mounting casualties.

According to data compiled by the Defense Department, the number of Army and Marine recruits needing waivers for felonies and serious misdemeanors, including minor drug offenses, has grown since 2003. The Army granted more than double the number of waivers for felonies and misdemeanors in 2006 than it did in 2003. Some recruits may get more than one waiver.

The military routinely grants waivers to admit recruits who have criminal records, medical problems or low aptitude scores that would otherwise disqualify them from service. Overall the majority are moral waivers, which include some felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic and drug offenses.

The number of felony waivers granted by the Army grew from 411 in 2003 to 901 in 2006, according to the Pentagon, or about one in 10 of the moral waivers approved that year. Other misdemeanors, which could be petty theft, writing a bad check or some assaults, jumped from about 2,700 to more than 6,000 in 2006. The minor crimes represented more than three-quarters of the moral waivers granted by the Army in 2006, up from more than half in 2003.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070214/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/military_recruits_waivers

[kineneb]

1. new name for Army

"American Foreign Legion"

given all their rule changes, what is next?

[richabk]

2. So a felon can get in, but I can't because I'm gay. n/t

[Barrett808]

3. Check.

And welcome to DU!

:hi:

[rodeodance]

7. Condi might hire you as a translator for Iraq if you speak Arabic

[leQ]

14. you hit the nail on the head there richabk

[wordpix]

4. does this mean Bush, Cheney & Libby will be going soon?

I hope so.

On the serious side, this is just great. :sarcasm: "Exporting democracy"= exporting criminals. :wtf:

[otherlander]

5. Felon army.

Fuck.

That is all.

[Squatch]

6. "Waiver" = "Lowered Standards"

[tabasco]

8. As if company commanders don't have enough to worry about.

Now they have to babysit a bunch of felons. These are the kind of troops who steal stuff from the unit, like radios, and mail them home. Then you have to lock down the whole unit in an attempt to find the loot. Yeah, great job improving the military there, republicans. I think republicans will agree to let anybody in as long as they don't have to carry their cheeto-eating lard asses down to the recruiters.

[RedEarth]

9. Army Giving More Waivers in Recruiting (recruits with criminal records up 65%)

The number of waivers granted to Army recruits with criminal backgrounds has grown about 65 percent in the last three years, increasing to 8,129 in 2006 from 4,918 in 2003, Department of Defense records show.

During that time, the Army has employed a variety of tactics to expand its diminishing pool of recruits. It has offered larger enlistment cash bonuses, allowed more high school dropouts and applicants with low scores on its aptitude test to join, and loosened weight and age restrictions.

It has also increased the number of so-called “moral waivers” to recruits with criminal pasts, even as the total number of recruits dropped slightly. The sharpest increase was in waivers for serious misdemeanors, which make up the bulk of all the Army’s moral waivers. These include aggravated assault, burglary, robbery and vehicular homicide.

The number of waivers for felony convictions also increased, to 11 percent of the 8,129 moral waivers granted in 2006, from 8 percent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/us/14military.html?hp&ex=1171429200&en=c0cc079ae87389d4&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Deja Q]

10. I am going to attempt to enlist.

If I am accepted, then people will have incentive to worry.

There's nothing left.

[pinniped]

11. They could put together another Dirty Dozen, but they'll need more than 12.

.

[Javaman]

12. The army does a good job of training future combatants, don't they?

They trained the people they are fighting in Iraq, now they are going to train the gang members of the U.S.

Should make for a very interesting future, here in the U.S, in about 5 to 10 years.

[The Anti-Neo Con]

13. Great!

People like that are the ones that rape & kill innocent Iraqis like that one soldier did who was caught and convicted.

[Bigmack]

15. I wonder about the effect .....

.. of our bedtime "prayer" in boot camp on those young felons. Shit, it made an impression on me! I wonder if some of those new guys will find their life calling... with their Rifle....
- - - - - -

My Rifle: The Creed of a US Marine
by Major General William H. Rupertus (USMC)

This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will...

My rifle and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit...

My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my rifle clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God, I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We
are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace!