New York TimesAnd how, exactly, is the Army going to expand it's active-duty force?
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — Hoping to ease the strain of two wars, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that he was likely to approve a $3 billion plan by the Army to accelerate by a full year the expansion of its active-duty force that President Bush approved in January.
Mr. Geren said that expediting the growth of the force would be achieved by increasing recruiting and re-enlistment. The Army has had to resort to large cash bonuses, up to $20,000 for recruits who agree to report quickly for basic training, and far higher amounts to keep soldiers in the service who do specialized jobs.
Though the Army is on track to meet its recruiting goal this year, it has had to accept modest increases in the number of recruits without high school diplomas, take more soldiers who scored low on an aptitude test and expand the use of moral waivers to recruit people with low-level criminal convictions.
All things said and done, it really is a good idea to expand the active-duty force. Now that Bush has made the United States a pariah internationally, and generated even more reasons for terrorists to hate us, we are going to need more troops to deal with the increased terrorist attacks we will no doubt experience for the foreseeable future. And with our troops now stretched out so thin, our ability to respond at the moment is rather questionable.
Leave a comment