Since 01-26-06
U.S. Army raises maximum age
for enlistment
Since 01-26-06
From: Waspscpo@aol.com
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 3:50 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: U.S. Army raises maximum age for enlistment
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18239519.htm
U.S. Army raises maximum age for enlistment
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON,
Jan 18 (Reuters) -
The U.S. Army, which missed its fiscal 2005 recruiting goal, said on Wednesday
it has raised the maximum enlistment age for new soldiers by five years to 39,
greatly expanding its pool of potential recruits.
Army officials said the move did not reflect
desperation to reverse recruiting shortfalls, noting the Army had achieved seven
straight monthly recruiting goals despite coming up 7,000 short of last year's
target of 80,000 recruits.
The Army has blamed recruiting shortfalls in part on reluctance by some
potential recruits to serve in the Iraq war.
Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman, said older
recruits must meet the same physical standards as the younger ones and attend
the same basic training. The new age ceiling applies to recruits without prior
military service.
"Experience has shown that older recruits who can meet the physical demands of
military service generally make excellent soldiers based on their maturity,
motivation, loyalty and patriotism," Army Recruiting Command said in a
statement.
"Raising the maximum age for active Army non-prior service enlistment expands
the recruiting pool, provides motivated individuals an opportunity to serve, and
strengthens the readiness of Army units," it said.
The Army, offering new financial incentives to
recruits, also doubled the maximum combination of cash enlistment bonuses, up to
$40,000 for the regular Army and up to $20,000 for the Army Reserve.
The part-time Army Reserve and Army National Guard increased their maximum
enlistment ages by the same amount in March 2005 in an action not requiring
congressional approval. For the regular Army, Congress authorized an increase in
the maximum enlistment age up to age 42, but the Army opted to allow enlistment
by those under age 40.'
SEVERELY STRETCHED
'The announcement came hours after the civilian head of the Army downplayed recruiting woes."
In the ongoing discussion and debate about Iraq, some
have said the Army is severely stretched. A few have even described it as
broken. I believe these comments are incorrect," Army Secretary Francis Harvey
told a Pentagon briefing.
A leading Democratic critic of the Iraq war, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania,
has called the Army "broken" and "worn out" by ongoing big overseas deployments
and recruiting shortfalls, a view echoed by other critics.
"Recruiting, I don't think is a measure of the strain
on the Army," said Harvey, who touted strong reenlistment among current soldiers
and positive indicators on recruiting in future months.
Harvey also commented on the Army's decision last week to send 230,000 sets of
side armor plates to augment body armor used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan
this year.
The move followed the disclosure of an internal
military report showing that better body armor might have prevented or limited
about 80 percent of fatal torso wounds suffered by Marines killed in Iraq.
Harvey said in three years of casualty reports, the Army had found one fatal
gunshot wound to the side.
Asked why the Army would field new armor to address
such a small threat, Harvey said one death was too many, and that nonfatal
wounds to the side might also be prevented.
Harvey also said "all the publicity" about the study may have informed an
"adaptive enemy" about vulnerabilities of U.S. body armor.
The new armor weighs about 5 pounds (2.3 kg), which
adds to the roughly 70 pounds (32 kg) or more of armor and equipment some troops
carry in Iraq. Some soldiers have said the extra weight could make them slower
targets for insurgents.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)