"As economy slides, reenlistments rise; Some consider another hitch best option" by John Milburn and Stephen Manning, Associated Press | December 3, 2008
FORT RILEY, Kan. - Sergeant Ryan Nyhus spent 14 months patrolling the deadly streets of Baghdad, where five members of his platoon were shot and one died. As bad as that was, he would rather go back there than take his chances in this brutal job market.
What, he can't find a $16/hour dish-washing job?
Nyhus reenlisted last Wednesday, and in so doing joined the growing ranks of those choosing to stay in the US military because of the bleak economy....
Funny how that all worked out, huh? Good thing the economy is being destroyed on purpose!
In 2008, as the stock market cratered and the housing market collapsed, more young members of the Army, Air Force, and Navy decided to re-up. While several factors might explain the rise in reenlistments, including a decline in violence in Iraq, Pentagon officials acknowledge that bad news for the economy is usually good news for the military.
And CUI BONO?
In fact, the Pentagon just completed its strongest recruiting year in four years. "We do benefit when things look less positive in civil society," said David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "What difficult economic times give us, I think, is an opening to make our case to people who we might not otherwise have."
The relaxing of standards has no doubt helped their recruiting, too!
The retention rate of early-career soldiers in the Army has risen steadily over the past four years and now stands 20 percentage points higher than it was in fiscal 2004. As for the Navy and the Air Force, early- and mid-career sailors and airmen reenlisted at a higher rate in October than during the same period in 2007....
Then I'll quit blogging for an end to occupations. If they wanna re-up and support the war-looting machine, then I won't call for health care, I won't call for an end to the wars, nothing, fuck it! What the hell am I even doing here then?
Alex Stewart joined the Army two years ago, when the factory where he worked as a welder started laying off. He was sent to Afghanistan with the 82d Airborne Division, which suffered 87 deaths last year, the highest total suffered by the 20,000-member unit since the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan began.
When his hitch was up in earlier this year, the 32-year-old from Grand Rapids, Mich., didn't hesitate to re-up for five more years. "I want a stable life for my wife in a very shaky economy," Stewart said. "There were no other options."
Well, life is "stable" as long as you don't get KILLED!
Stewart's new assignment will take him to Germany, where he will serve as a truck driver, though it is always possible he could be sent back into combat. "I figure if I do another five or 10 years in the Army," he said, "the economy will turn around and I can get a truck-driving job."
You think so, huh?
