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Military Recruiting Goes Up As Economy Goes Down
It seems that the Pentagon has had a better year than most of us — and its best year since 1973. Its best year for new recruits, that is. All four branches of the military — the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps — met their recruitment goals for both active duty and reserve personnel for the fiscal year that ended September 30.
The banner year was due to increased spending on recruitment, increases in pay, and, of course, the tough job market, said Defense Department head of personnel Bill Carr. I suspect, also, that the results were helped by having a president more interested in ending wars than profiting from them. But given that the economic outlook is pretty bleak and unemployment is approaching ten percent, is military service a viable option for a parent who needs work?
Mind you, I know the sacrifice our servicemen and women are making is enormous and, sadly, sometimes final, but not everyone is cut out for the military. When times are tough, however, you do what you have to do, especially if you have mouths to feed.
My question, though, is about our kids. Mine are too young to be thinking about any sort of career other than “Princess” and “Train Engineer”, but I’ve seen a lot of ads on television that seem to be targeting kids right out of high school. Is this a good idea? One of the challenges is that today about 70% of high school students go to college whereas in the 1980′s, only about half did.
In our house, the expectation is that our kids absolutely will go to college; the only question is which one. If the economy doesn’t improve, however, perhaps the military would be something to consider. Do you see the military as an option for your kids? Would you discourage or support them if they wanted to enlist?
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Lee commented on Oct 15 09 at 6:07 pmIt doesn’t have to be college *or* the military. Many people take advantage of the GI bill to pay for college or post graduate education.
http://www.collegeanswer.com/paying/content/pay_miltary.jsp
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Oct 15 09 at 10:49 pmThose with less power end up as cannon fodder for those with more power. What else is new?
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 15 09 at 10:57 pmAmen, Lee. The military is excellent as a way to broaden the experience and avoid student loan debt for a wide range of people. Just in my own family, we have a doctor, a college professor, a social worker, a mechanic who owns a small business, a K-8 school administrator, an electrician, and a nurse who all began their career training with military service (three Air Force, the rest Army). It’s true that more students go to college right out of high school now, as compared to the 80s, but how many of those actually graduate and move into the “great career” they were told was on the other end? I personally feel that kids need to know that 18 is not the only age at which they can be a college freshman. I disagree with Charles Murray on many things, but quite honestly he is absolutely right that not everyone needs to go to college, especially at age 18. The military is not for everyone, and I value the fact that ours is all-volunteer, but I wish more people would encourage their kids to embark on a year or two of military service before pursuing college or a trade.
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 15 09 at 11:01 pmScorpio, that’s so trite. You have a much better imagination than that. Why not just pull a Kerry and say kids should study harder so they won’t end up “stuck” in the military.
bettywu commented on Oct 15 09 at 11:40 pmI can’t imagine sending my 18 year old to a profession where the main focus is to train him to kill people. But he’ll be 18, so it’ll be up to him.
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 15 09 at 11:58 pmactually the main focus is to train him to avoid getting killed.
g8grl commented on Oct 16 09 at 12:43 amMy kids won’t go into the military unless those with the power to send this country to war send their kids first.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Oct 16 09 at 4:45 amJenny, hard truths are often described as trite by those who have the option to ignore them. Enjoy your privilege.
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 16 09 at 8:00 amI’ve had the privelege of serving my country. I do enjoy it. Thanks.
LM commented on Oct 16 09 at 12:30 pmAbsolutely it will be an option for my children. There are hundreds of types of jobs available, and it’s valuable experience. You wouldn’t discourage your child from being a firefighter or policemen, would you? Just as risky, but less controversial. It’s all public service.
bettywu commented on Oct 19 09 at 11:44 pmFor the record, I wouldn’t encourage fire fighting or police work either for the exact same reason. I hope, however to not discourage anything my child wants to be. I’m trying to raise an individual, not a clone of me.
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