Children Recruited in the USA: ’Enlistment bonuses’ offered to 14 yr olds

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Sun, 17 Apr 2005 21:53:52 -0700 (PDT)

Children Recruited in the USA: 'Enlistment bonuses' offered

to 14 yr olds

 

 

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=5786

 

 

Children Recruited in the USA: 'Enlistment bonuses' offered to 14 yr olds

13 comment(s).

 

 

In an effort to increase its ranks for coming wars, the U.S. military

is recruiting - and paying - children as young as 14 years old for

future combat duty.

 

By Tim Schmitt

 

Colin Hadley spends most of his days after school skateboarding or

playing Halo II on his new X-Box with friends. He sleeps until noon or

later on weekends and rarely, if ever, does any schoolwork outside the

classroom, where he pulls down solid C's and a few D's - just enough

to get by. He's the typical 15-year-old American boy: cocksure in

demeanor, certain the world revolves around him, and confident that

life is going to serve him well.

 

And he's the new " target of interest " for U.S. military recruiters

who've begun signing up boys as young as 14 for military service,

which they will be required to begin when they turn 18.

 

" It's a sweet deal, " says Hadley, who boasts that he bought his X-Box

with the enlistment bonus he received after signing up last month. " I

don't have to do hardly anything for three years, but they're paying

me now. "

 

Hadley's windfall was made possible under the Pentagon's

" pre-enlistment program " that was quietly authorized last month in an

effort to ensure the number of military troops available for combat

remains steady for at least the next few years. The conditions of the

program are simple. A young man who is at least 14 years old and has a

parent's permission can enlist in the U.S. military, but will not

report to duty until he reaches the legal age. The future soldier

agrees to remain " physically and mentally fit " and to undergo annual

physical examinations at the Military Entrance and Processing Station

(MEPS). In exchange, the government provides him a $10,000 sign-on

bonus that is paid in yearly installments of $2,500 until the age of

18, at which time any remaining balance is given to the recruit.

 

And while waiting to report to duty at 18, the new recruits are paid a

modest stipend and allowed access to funds granted veterans for

education. Because combat duty is a requirement of enlistment, the

program is currently open only to young men, and it has been

authorized for only three years, so Congress will have to renew the

program again in 2008.

 

" The program is still in the early stages, but we're certain it will

prove a valuable tool for the U.S. military while providing future

soldiers with much-needed financial assistance so they can start

planning for the future now, " says Lt. James Pederson, a spokesman for

the U.S. Pentagon's Office of Recruitment and Retention.

 

With the war in Iraq still taking a toll, and potential conflicts on

the horizon in Iran, North Korea, Syria, the Philippines and

elsewhere, the U.S. military is faced with a shortage of manpower not

seen in decades.

 

The Army National Guard met only 56 percent of its recruiting quota in

January, and the Marine Corps fell short of its recruiting goal that

month for the first time since 1995. The Army missed its February

recruiting goal by 27 percent, and the numbers for March and April are

not expected to improve. And though the Bush administration has

explored the idea of re-instituting the draft, the idea has been met

with such widespread resistance that doing so seems unlikely.

 

So the mighty U.S. military has been left with declining rolls during

a time of war when the need for warm bodies is at a premium. The

result has been a loosening of enlistment requirements and the

offering of more incentives to fill the void.

 

" More and more of our troops are choosing to leave service when their

enlistment period comes to an end, and the number of new recruits

entering military service is at a 20-year low, " says Pederson. " We've

had to become more and more creative in our efforts to fill the ranks

of departing soldiers, and that's meant reaching out to new target

groups and making them offers they simply can't refuse. "

 

Currently, the National Guard is offering enlistment bonuses of up to

$15,000 for new members, who may also receive matching funds to be

used as a down payment on a new home. In addition, the Army announced

last week that it is raising the maximum age for new recruits by five

years, up to 39. It has also increased by 33 percent the number of

recruiters on the street and has developed a sales pitch to appeal to

parents who otherwise might not approve of their child's enrollment

 

" We're going to appeal to the patriotism of parents, " says Pederson.

" Parents have to understand that their children are needed in a time

of war and that sacrifices need to be made for the good of the nation. "

 

Tom Hadley recognizes this need, and when he heard of the

pre-enlistment program, convinced his son that it was in his best

interest to sign up.

 

" There aren't a lot of opportunities for poor or working class kids in

this country right now, so this program is a blessing, " says Tom.

" Colin can spend the next couple years just being a kid and save a few

bucks for school, and after his four years of military service he'll

come out ahead. I'm proud of my son for making such a wise decision

and standing up for his country. "

 

Carla Bloomer agrees with Tom that poor children have few options, but

rankles at the suggestion that selling military service to a child is

an answer to the problem. And she didn't even know this was an issue

until she learned a recruiter had talked to her 14-year-old son and

convinced him to sign up.