Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command, said more than 9,700 referrals have been submitted so far this year, resulting in about 2,400 enlistment contracts being signed. Of that number, just over 1,200 recruits have headed off to basic training.
“We think the bonus program is a wonderful recruiting tool,” Smith said. “What better referral to get than from someone who knows the Army firsthand?”
San Francisco resident Ann Wansley, a retired lieutenant colonel, isn’t so sure.
“They want me to con some innocent young person into signing up for an occupation which promises to put him or her in danger of death or severe, long-lasting mental or physical harm,” she said after recently receiving a brochure from the Army detailing the bonus program.
“And for this I am to cheerfully accept payment?” Wansley asked. “What kind of a person do they think I am?”
Recruiting is hell for the Army (San Francisco Chronicle)
(Image from Chicago Indymedia.)
Previously ‘varked:
Hitler got his start giving reeducation speeches to demobilized soldiers after the end of the Great War. I’m just saying.