About Face In National Guard Recruitment

A Change In Strategy Is Boosting Enrollment, Despite Wartime Dangers

(CBS)  Eighteen-year-old Manuel Caceres signed up for the Army National Guard today.

He is part of a dramatic turnaround in what had been a losing battle to fill the ranks. With the National Guard serving — and dying — on the front lines in Iraq, those ranks had fallen to a new low by the summer of 2005, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.

"We had to take some different actions because what we were doing was not working," said Col. Mike Jones, the Guard's head recruiter.

Jones now pays members of the Guard $2,000 for every recruit they can deliver to basic training.

"That absolutely turned the corner," Jones said. "We’ve had over 35,000 people brought into the National Guard in the last 19 months as a result of the recruit assistance program."

Tabitha White is a private in the Guard and now a part-time recruiter. She’ll get $1,000 for bringing Caceres in, and another $1,000 when he reports to boot camp.

For her, it's easy money.

"You can just walk into a store and you just stop somebody and tell them about the program," she said. "Very simple; it's just all about communication, about talking."

The Guard has also doubled the number of full-time recruiters to 5,000 and increased the enlistment bonus from $10,000 to $20,000. Surprisingly its ads emphasize the risks as much as the rewards.

One says: "We know the sacrifices. We know the consequences. We don't have a safe job and we're all willing to accept that."

"We're very candid that serving in the National Guard today is sometimes a dangerous business," Jones said. "Believe it or not, that message is selling."

It will have to keep selling because the Guard plans to add another 7,000 soldiers in the coming months.

[ajmarine1]

"This war is meaningless. Why should anyone die?"

Posted by long_rider

Did you hear that one and a half hour long tape that the Al-Qaeda # 2 man put out the other day? He wants all Muslims to join and attack the West.

[long_rider]

This war has been so mis-managed, from the chimp down to the lowest ranked general. Who in their right mind wnat to enlist?

This is worse than the Nam, we were there for 364 and a wake-up. These troops have been extended how many times, sent back early how many times, and given what plan of action?

If they pulled this *** in Nam they would have been shot. I could just picture some Lt. coming up to my squad and tell us that we were extended for another six or twelve months. That slob would have more holes than swiss cheese.

Our troops are on the edge now, just little more of this BS and they will wise up. They will also revolt, soldiers are pretty smart, and when they get fedup watch out.

Myself, I would find me a nice place to watch them kill each other. If they came after me I would kill everyone in a two block area. Leave me alone and I will leave you alone. Screw the officers let them patrol the streets, and draw fire.

This war is meaningless. Why should anyone die?

[gabbysmomrs]

"Very simple; it's just all about communication, about talking." It's all about bribes and knowing that for each $2000 spent perhaps 10 soldiers will die.

[random_radar]

How does fighting a war in Iraq make it harder for terrorists to attack us here? Is there something magical about occupying Iraq that keeps the terrorists from attacking us here? I don't think so.

If we left Iraq, how would that open the door to terrorists bringing the war here? If they want to do that, they are just as capable of doing it now as they would be later. In fact, their motivation for doing it now is greater than it would be after we leave Iraq. It would be a tremendous public relations boost to do a spectacular attack here in rataliation for invading Iraq.

The truth is that killing Iraqis does nothing to make America safe. And leaving Iraq will not make America less safe. The reason the terrorists have not successfully attacked us here is because of domestic security. Fighting a foreign war has nothing to do with it at all.

Anyone who says that fighting foreign wars preserves our security is a Jingoist liar. The real reason we are fighting foreign wars is for corporate imperialism. The reason the "terrorists" choose to do battle in foreign countries is because they sincerely want to oppose our imperialism. Otherwise, they would bring the battle to our shores.

We are the aggressors and oppressors. America is killing a hundred times more innocent people than the terrorists. Terrorists have killed thousands and America has killed hundreds of thousands. But Americans believe in their cause without any conscience or remorse. I feel sorry for America.

[feelfree1]

veteran71 at 01:10 PM,

Excellent points.

[dcm412]

Having served on active duty in the Army, I thing there is no better time to join the military. If we don't prosecute these Islamic radicals oversees we will end up cleaning up after their suicide bombers here in our own streets. I am proud of the men and women who choose to serve in our military and anyone else that has the dedication to join!

[toldyouso21]

jdweymouth,

Re: "The enemies we engage do not regard human life and hide behind civilians."



Spoken from the same group of people who say "we fight them there, so we don't have to fight them here"

so... what you are saying is that we take OUR war to them and have an entire civilian from another country die and suffer for it--but we are better than people who use their hide behind civilians.

Hmmmm: the lesson: To the neo cons--having an entire country be a proxy for our war and suffering is noble, but for those who resist us to do a similar thing on a lesser scale is not.

[toldyouso21]

Attention potential recruits:

Your lives and your dignity are worth far more than $2,000. Don't waste your life in exchange for these crumbs!
Posted by FeelFree1 at 07:21 PM : Jul 05, 2007

the recruits don't get these "crumbs." The recruiter who snags them for the military gets the bonus NOT the new soldier. Evidently, for the recruiter, those lives are worth 2K each. Sort of like procuring slaves for sacrifice and being paid a bounty for each one.

[toldyouso21]

Tabitha White is a private in the Guard and now a part-time recruiter. She%u2019ll get $1,000 for bringing Caceres in, and another $1,000 when he reports to boot camp. For her, it's easy money.
"You can just walk into a store and you just stop somebody and tell them about the program," she said. "Very simple; it's just all about communication, about talking."

I wonder if she bothers to tell them about dying also....or that the war may very well be illegal and is based on acknowledged lies and half truths. I wonder if she told them that if they get hurt, the VA and the DOD will do as much as possible to avoid or minimize paying for their care. I wonder if she told him that for the most part, he will be fodder, no matter which branch he thinks he is picking. (you can pick the AF and end up in Army infantry).

I find it sickening, that what cannot be accomplished without a bonus now all of sudden has improved. What in the world are the recruiters doing differently? Lying? now that money is at stake? or finally putting the effort in that they should have put in all along?

[mbcsmith]

Anyone that joins the military right now must be in a pretty desperate situation or not thinking very clearly. My son's friend joined as a 74F which is a software analyst - he thought he'd be safe from the front lines. So he signed up, went to boot camp, and then they told him there were no openings in the 74F school. So while he's waiting for an opening, guess where they sent this freshly trained soldier? That's right - Iraq. And they won't tell him how long it is before there's an opening either so he's feeling really screwed and is planning on spending the next 12 months there - at least. Nice huh?
Posted by hungry1968 at 08:29 AM : Jul 06, 2007


Patriotism is DEAD in the LIB party. Is it possible these brave young men and women in the military are PATRIOTIC? Some nerve for you to assess why anyone joins the military! I see your kid is following in your worthless footsteps!

[hungry1968]

lars008

Why do you even bother posting? Don't you realize that everyone skips right over them without even giving them a glance? I see a long copy + paste message, and I go right to the end to see who posted it. When I see it's from you, I skip right to the next post. I'm not alone - most people do it. So why do you bother?

[lars008-2009]

But the focus of this war was always the oil,
Posted by ZykraCosmos at 08:11 AM : Jul 06, 2007

i guess that means zawahiri is lying... lol

thank you demonic-rats%u2026

New Video From Al Qaeda Number Two
"You must be patient and steadfast," he says. "Rejoice, for victory is near, with Allah's permission, and the herds of crusaders have begun to split up and their sole concern has become searching for a way out."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/new-video-from-.html

Al Qaeda Deputy Defends Iraqi Insurgents
Ayman Al-Zawahiri Urges Muslims To Support Islamic State Of Iraq's War Against U.S. Military
Ayman al-Zawahiri defended the Islamic State of Iraq %u2014 the insurgent umbrella group headed by al Qaeda %u2014 against critics among Islamic militant groups, saying it was a vanguard for fighting off the U.S. military and eventually establishing a "caliphate" of Islamic rule across the region.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/04/world/main3016821.shtml

London court jails 'cyber-jihadis' for online terror
Three "cyber-jihadis" who used the Internet to urge Muslims to wage holy war on non-believers were jailed for between six-and-a-half and 10 years Thursday in the first case of its kind in Britain.

Sentencing them, Judge Charles Openshaw said the men had engaged in "cyber jihad", encouraging others to kill "kuffars" or non-believers.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070705142313.zr9n5g5g&show_article=1

[hungry1968]

Anyone joining the Military today, has to be tremendously desperate, or tremendously reetarded. Illegal Aliens looking for Citizenship, perhaps.
Posted by veteran71 at 01:11 AM : Jul 06, 2007

That's not saying much for our men and women serving our country.
Posted by AJMarine1 at 06:02 AM : Jul 06, 2007

I'm not going to speak for veteran71, and I certainly don't condone that statement, but I think the spirit of his / her post is correct. Anyone that joins the military right now must be in a pretty desperate situation or not thinking very clearly. My son's friend joined as a 74F which is a software analyst - he thought he'd be safe from the front lines. So he signed up, went to boot camp, and then they told him there were no openings in the 74F school. So while he's waiting for an opening, guess where they sent this freshly trained soldier? That's right - Iraq. And they won't tell him how long it is before there's an opening either so he's feeling really screwed and is planning on spending the next 12 months there - at least. Nice huh?

[mbcsmith]

I guess there really is a sucker born every minute.
Posted by trillion1 at 07:25 AM : Jul 06, 2007

Another LIB poster supporting the troops. LIBS are so patriotic. NOT!

[zykracosmos]

I guess if enough taxpayer money is spent on "multi-level marketeting," the numbers can be bumped up. But how dedicated is someone recruited out of a grocery store check-out line? Men and women of our armed forces are in fact some of the best-trained and capable military personnel in the world, but the awful truth is that these fine young people and their families have been used and abused to allow Cheney's oil buddies to grab Iraq's cheap oil, all in the trumped up name of patriotism, at a time when we really did need the skills of our military in places where it really counted, like Tora Bora. Before I joined up today, I would have to think twice about whether I would be engaged in a competition for resources by giant companies that controlled my government from the top down. Everything about Iraq has been wrong from the beginning, especially the idea of having marines patrol hostile regions like street cops. Any marine will tell you that's not what they are trained for. If you send in the marines, they go in as a devastating force, quickly overcome the enemy, secure the territory, and then leave the peacekeeping to others. But the focus of this war was always the oil, and our proud fighting forces have the disgusting choice of clinging to the propaganda they were fed that got them in to Iraq, or they have to admit that they have been shamelessly used by corporate CEOs who have never served this country anywhere.

[lars008-2009]

non muslims of the world unite... fight against the tyranny of the fascist nazi terrorslam imperialist empire of the darkside...

it is fascist nazi terrorislam stupid%u2026.

Grilling: Islamist Schoolmaster Cross-Examined Over Hateful Passages In Arabic Textbooks... video
I mentioned this video a few days ago -- it's the video where a British newshost questions a Saudi-funded school headmistress in Britain is challenged on using textbooks calling Christians "monkeys" and Jews "pigs" -- but couldn't link it at the time as it had been, predictably, removed from YouTube.
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/216808.php

We do use books that call Jews 'apes' admits head of Islamic school
The principal of an Islamic school has admitted that it uses textbooks which describe Jews as "apes" and Christians as "pigs" and has refused to withdraw them.

Dr Sumaya Alyusuf confirmed that the offending books exist after former teacher Colin Cook, 57, alleged that children as young as five are taught from racist materials at the King Fahd Academy in Acton.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23384657-details/We+do use books that call Jews 'apes' admits head of Islamic school/article.do

[lars008-2009]

it is fascist nazi terrorislam stupid%u2026.

FASCIST NAZI ISLAM TO ENSLAVE NON MUSLIM WORLD

HAMAS MICKEY MOUSE SAYS
Islamic rule will benefit Christians and Jews
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - May 14, 2007
The force behind Hamas TV%u2019s controversial Mickey Mouse clone said today that his children%u2019s television program will continue to promote worldwide Islamic supremacy, for everyone's benefit, including Christians and Jews.

In a long interview on Hamas TV, Hazim Al-Sha%u2019arawi, Deputy Director of Al-Aqsa TV and one of the creators of the Hamas children%u2019s TV show Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers, said that using the program to promote Islamic rule over other religions is actually promoting %u201Cjustice, goodness and world love.%u201D

Al-Aqsa TV and the Palestinian Authority have been under fire since PMW reported last week that Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers was using a character named Farfur, a knockoff of Disney%u2019s Mickey Mouse character, to convey messages about Islamic supremacy as well as hatred of Jews, Israel and the U.S. Despite public statements by PA Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouti that the show would be taken off the air until it could be reviewed and revised, a new episode of the program %u2013 featuring Al-Sha%u2019arawi as one of the hosts %u2013 ran Friday.
http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_may2007.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S995NCeaUg

[lars008-2009]

non muslims of the world unite... fight against the tyranny of the fascist nazi terrorslam imperialist empire of the darkside...

it is fascist nazi terrorislam stupid

I was a fanatic...I know their thinking, says former radical Islamist
By blaming the Government for our actions, those who pushed this "Blair's bombs" line did our propaganda work for us.
More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=465570&in_page_id=1770
Bless the Beasts and Children
Fascist nazi terrorslam kills every man woman and child in the village again%u2026 typical mo for terrorslam%u2026
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/bless-the-beasts-and-children.htm
thank you demonic-rats%u2026
New Video From Al Qaeda Number Two
"You must be patient and steadfast," he says. "Rejoice, for victory is near, with Allah's permission, and the herds of crusaders have begun to split up and their sole concern has become searching for a way out."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/new-video-from-.html
Sentencing them, Judge Charles Openshaw said the men had engaged in "cyber jihad", encouraging others to kill "kuffars" or non-believers.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070705142313.zr9n5g5g&show_article=1
45 Muslim doctors planned US terror raids
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/05/nterror405.xml

[lars008-2009]

what do you call an ideology that:

kills you if you don't join it...

http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=82201&ln=eng&txt=islam%20law%20kill%20kaafir

kills you if you leave it...

http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=696&ln=eng&txt=kaafir%20kill

kills you if you don't do what they tell you to do..

http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=6035&ln=eng&txt=kaafir%20kill

kills you if you speak against it%u2026.

http://islamqa.com/index.php?QR=22809&ln=eng

kills anybody that is not a member of it...

http://www.hauns.com/~DCQu4E5g/koran5.html

still practices slavery

http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=12562&ln=eng&txt=slavery

still practices pagan rituals...

http://answering-islam.org/Silas/pagansources.htm

allows the r a p e of babies and animals...

http://www.homa.org/default.asp?TOCID=2083225445

a. satanic cult???
b. islam???
c. all the above???

Our Prophet commanded us to fight the kaafirs when we are able and to attack them in their homelands and to give them three choices before we enter their lands: either they become Muslim and be like us, sharing our rights and duties; or they pay the jizyah (poll tax) and feel themselves subdued; or they fight, in which case their wealth, women, children and homes become permissible as booty for the Muslims.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=13759&ln=eng&txt=before%20islam%20arabia%20pagan

[lars008-2009]

NOW CAN WE KILL THEM???
If they can kill us, we can kill them

Qaeda warns of attacks 'worse than 9/11'
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070530102648.wuwa6k96&show_article=1

Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out 'Martyrdom' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907

Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
American Al Qaeda Member Threatens Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/terror/main2865282.shtml