Market Pressures

Army recruiting today:

Tracking by the Pentagon shows that complaints about recruiting improprieties are on pace to again reach record highs set in 2003 and 2004. Both the active Army and Reserve missed recruiting targets last year, and reports of recruiting abuses continue from across the country.

A family in Ohio reported that its mentally ill son was signed up, despite rules banning such enlistments and the fact that records about his illness were readily available.

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

And in Colorado, a high school student working undercover told recruiters he'd dropped out and had a drug problem. The recruiter told the boy to fake a diploma and buy a product to help him beat a drug test.

Someone characterized this as one bad apple. Sorry -- the article says that the Pentagon has had to investigate more than 5% of its recruiters for abuses. Considering what it takes to get the Pentagon to investigate itself, I'd say that's pretty significant, although there's no telling what the real figures are.

But if they kids are gay, forget it.

(Hat tip to AmericaBlog)