Army relaxes its standards to fill ranks
…But as the military continues investigations into alleged atrocities committed by U.S. troops in Iraq, some experts worry that the Army, stretched thin by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and under pressure to fill its ranks, might be signing up soldiers who should not be in the service.
The military’s revelation last week that former Pfc. Steven Green, who allegedly organized the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family, suffered from “anti-social personality disorder” sheds new light on the importance of how the Army decides whom to sign up for service, say military analysts.
“The issue is not whether they’ve met their quota,” said Winslow Wheeler, an expert on the U.S. military at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. “The issue is quality … and what concessions they are willing to make to meet this quota.”
…At the same time, in the first four months of this year, the percentage of recruits whom the Army otherwise considers fit for service but who required special waivers to join rose to 15.5 percent. The waivers were for misdemeanor offenses, drug- or alcohol-related violations or medical problems, Hilferty said. In 2004, 12 percent of recruits required such waivers; in 2005, 15 percent needed them.
Hilferty said Army recruiters have “an aggressive mental health program” consisting of tests and checkups intended to weed out applicants with mental health problems or personality disorders — which Green is reported to have — during either recruiting or at basic training.
sfgate.com
4 young people I work with, with severe emotional imbalance, have been recruited so far. The recruiters are like dogs on a bone, getting waivers for criminal records, PTSR diagnoses, and one who just left for boot camp has sex-offender status.