August 23, 2005
cool numbers....
Ralph Peters in the Ny Post (Thanks to InstaPundit)
...Remember last spring, when the Army's recruitment efforts fell short for a few months? The media's glee would have made you confuse the New York Times and Air America.
When the Army attempted to explain that enlistments are cyclical and numbers dip at certain times of the year, the media ignored it. All that mattered was the wonderful news that the Army couldn't find enough soldiers. We were warned, in oh-so-solemn tones, that our military was headed for a train wreck.
Now, as the fiscal year nears an end, the Army's numbers look great. Especially in combat units and Iraq, soldiers are re-enlisting at record levels. And you don't hear a whisper about it from the "mainstream media."
Let's look at the numbers, which offer a different picture of patriotism than the editorial pages do...
[the numbers are worth reading].
I've read so many times recently that our military is strained/stretched/broken...and just generally miserable and decrepit. One expects stupid rubbish from the Gasping Media, but the bloggers, if they are real bloggers, ought to be posting some corrections. I won't hold my breath.
It's certainly pleasant to see their hate-America hopes dashed. Nyahh nyahhh nyahhh!
Update: Phil Carter is saying the numbers don't really add up to meeting recruiting goals for the year. So I may be the one who has to make a correction. On the other hand, my feelings about those whose cheeks glow and eyes light up whenever America has problems--those will not need updates. I will continue to despise them.
Posted by John Weidner at August 23, 2005 08:33 AM | TrackBackWhile I don't have source quotes handy right now, articles I've been reading say the Regular Army and Marines are not meeting goals, but thanks to reenlistments, aren't too far off.
However, National Guard and Reserve enlistments are in the toilet, by all reports. And several Pentagon spokesmen have confirmed as things currently stand, NG and Reserve forces will be so decimated by next spring, the strain on Regular forces will be so great, that our military will very literally be in danger of collapse, at least regarding man-on-the-street combat service. That is one reason many belive Bush is hinting at some troop reductions by next spring: a) our forces MUST have the break or risk collapse, and b) the timing would work out perfectly for the November election, soothing the majority of Americans who now see the war as a mistake!
Here, a source you wingers are more likely to actually read:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166490,00.html
The U.S. Army (search) will miss its recruiting goals this year but will be able to sustain troop levels in Iraq over the next four years, a high-ranking general told FOX News.
...
The disclosure about recruiting problems comes two months after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers (search) announced that after four consecutive months of declining enlistment, the Army more than met its recruitment goals for the month of June.
The Army National Guard, which has been a key part of the the U.S. force in Iraq, missed its recruiting goal for at least the ninth straight month in June and is nearly 19,000 soldiers below its authorized strength, military officials said last month."
And its worth noting that Myers was able to say we met enlistment goals, dispite continuously declining enlistment only because the total goal was sharply dropped mid-way through the year...Its always easy to meet your goal if you just make the goalpost lower and lower (a Bush trait).
Posted by: Zoomie at August 24, 2005 06:56 PM
