So first I read this morning about a story by Ralph Peters in the NY Post (via Powerline and numerous other blog sources) that Shazaam! The Armed Forces Recruitment Exceeds Targets. Whoopee! “Take that you anti-war defeatists!” I yell while doing the endzone shuffle and spike.

Every one of the Army’s 10 divisions — its key combat organizations — has exceeded its re-enlistment goal for the year to date. Those with the most intense experience in Iraq have the best rates. The 1st Cavalry Division is at 136 percent of its target, the 3rd Infantry Division at 117 percent.

What about first-time enlistment rates, since that was the issue last spring? The Army is running at 108 percent of its needs. Guess not every young American despises his or her country and our president.

The Army Reserve is a tougher sell, given that it takes men and women away from their families and careers on short notice. Well, Reserve recruitment stands at 102 percent of requirements.

And then there’s the Army National Guard. We’ve been told for two years that the Guard was in free-fall. Really? Guard recruitment and retention comes out to 106 percent of its requirements as of June 30.

But then I turn to Fox News and lo and behold a story appears saying the Army will miss its recruiting goals for 2005… wha…. huh? Hey!

The U.S. Army 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.

Lt. Gen. James Lovelace, the Army deputy chief of staff, said the Army can sustain 100,000 in Iraq for the next four years if needed without “breaking the force” but he said it would include three or four rotations for some troops.

“We’re gonna fall short of our recruiting goal this year. We know that,” Lovelace told FOX News’ Bret Baier.

Just what the hell is going on here? The Fox News story looks much more credible since they actually quote an army official, so what’s the deal with Ralph Peters? Where did he get his facts? The troublesome registration for the NY Post prevents me from reading his whole story, so I have no idea if his facts are attributed to something other than wishful thinking.

So far, I’m the only one to blog about this. Are you listening, blogosphere?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005 at 8:26 am and is filed under Politics, etc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.