WASHINGTON: The U.S. Army is facing charges of misconduct in recruitment of soldiers. It is charged with helping potential candidates to overcome drug tests and obtain fake high school diplomas. The charges also include excesses by recruiters in their attempt to make up to the target.
The Army put off recruiting for a day on Friday amid these allegations even as it is trying to reach its target of enlisting new soldiers, much needed to keep its operations abroad, especially in Iraq, intact.
The head of the Army Recruitment Command, Maj Gen Michael Rochelle, urged the recruiters spread across the country to maintain integrity and strictly adhere to rules. There are some 7,500 recruiters at 1,700 recruiting units in the U.S. On Friday, the recruiters were subjected to lessons on ethics and rules governing recruitment.
It is alleged that some of the recruiters had helped people to cheat at drug tests and to get their unrecognized diplomas verified and accepted.
Gen Rochelle said by calling off the drive on Friday, the army is making a sacrifice as nearly 1,000 recruits were expected to get enrolled in the active duty army or part-time army reserve. He hoped they would come back.
Gen Rochelle said the actions of a few have reflected very badly on the army. He attributed the low response to army enlisting to low unemployment and parents' discouraging their children from joining the army.
"We are engaged in war," said Gen Rochelle. "And right now no one wants to see their sons or daughters placed in harm's way. No person should want that.
"But the reality is that we have to defend our freedoms. And someone has to do it."
The U.S. Army offers the maximum number of ground forces in Iraq. It aims to recruit 80,000 soldiers in 2005 starting from October 1, 2004, but could not reach the target in three consecutive months. Gen Rochelle said this would not mean the army would lower standards prescribed for enrolment. It has started giving more incentives, including financial, to attract candidates.
In the U.S., each Army recruiter is expected to recruit two people a month. It is now short of 6,600 recruits. Potential candidates and their parents are aware of the army's high-pitched recruitment drive as more and more soldiers are dying in Iraq and they see no immediate end the engagement there.
Gen Rochelle said he knows of seven investigations into excesses by recruiters, like those happened in Houston and Denver. In the Houston incident, a recruiter allegedly threatened to have an unsure recruit arrested if he backed out. The recruiter has no such authority. In another incident in Colorado, recruiters are alleged to have provided information to recruits on fake diplomas and methods to overcome drug tests and fitness requirements.
Army sources revealed that 480 cases of impropriety by recruiters have been probed into since October 1 and eight recruiters have been discharged and 98 admonished.
