What A Guy!

If you haven't read it yet, today's column by Bob Herbert (a New York Times writer) is worth looking up. He decided that today was a good day to shred the U. S. Military Recruiters.

Now, he claims his moral authority saying he isn't really anti-military because he served 2 years himself (read drafted). Having established that, he feels that the Army is conspiring against the youth of America by using false advertising. Seems that he feels that the recruiters should be telling these young, impressionable boys and girls how it feels to have your face blown off, or how it feels to walk down the halls of Walter Reed Army Hospital seeing the "endless" amputees and paralyzed service men and women.

He also says that "rural" lads are unsophicated and will fall for a pretty uniform with lots of shiny things on it. Rural folks is unsophicated? What 1930's East of Eden did he just drop out of?

Look - if anyone is so stupid that they don't realize the primary mission of the Armed Forces, well, they won't pass the ASVAB for a start. The recruiter doesn't have to spend time on that unless the newbie wants to go in a combat arm - grunt, cannon cocker or armor. It's the 'everything else' that the general populace doesn't know about - the 30 days leave a year, training or duty station option (if qualified), higher education options, medical & dental, 3 hots & a cot.

You want recruiters with pressure on them? in the mid 1970's I was an Army recruiter in an affluent area of Chicago suburbs. Over 90% of the kids claimed they were going to college, and parents damn near took out restraining orders to stop us from even talking to their kids.

Bob Herbert has a problem with the Army not being up front about the chances of death or mutilation. Well, no shit! When you look at the numbers serving compared to the the number of casualties, you see how small a percentage that is. Mr Herbert really needs to get out of the New York Slimes office more often and see what the real world is doing.