Checking in

Our unclassified internet at the HQ is down - again!  I am blogging from the internet cafe for $2/hour.  It is still hot, sandstormy, and luckily fairly quiet in our AO.  More Iraqi Army units are coming in here every time I turn around, but they each have their own ministry that they work for, so information sharing and coordination is a big focus here on the ground.  Growing pains again...

Comments

[ginny]

I am glad you check in. :-) Love ya- Ginny

[AFSister]

Hey Maj-
Be safe... and be careful what you write. Red2Alpha effectively got shut down because of Army uppers... don't want to lose you, Currie and Thunder6 too.

Thanks for the update- it's great to hear even the simplest "I'm here and fine" message.

[Katy]

Glad too "see" you. Man,$2.00 an hour? That bites.

[Enjoy the Stay]

Nice to see you're still puffed up and gung ho. You'll need to be, since more and more potential cannon fodder are staying away:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Wednesday postponed by more than a week the release of military recruiting figures for May, as the Army and Marine Corps struggle to attract new troops amid the Iraq war.

The military services had routinely provided most recruiting statistics for a given month on the first business day of the next month.

Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the May numbers for the active-duty and reserve components of the all-volunteer military will be released on June 10.

"Military recruiting is instrumental to our readiness and merits the earliest release of data. But at the same time, this information must be reasonably scrutinized and explained to the public, which deserves the fullest insight into military performance in this important area," Krenke said.

Asked whether the move would simply delay the release of bad news, Krenke said, "That's not necessarily true," noting that "we expect the numbers to improve during the summer months."

Military recruiters have said potential recruits and their parents were expressing wariness about enlisting during the Iraq war. They said improving civilian job opportunities also were affecting recruiting.

The regular Army missed its recruiting goals for three straight months entering May, falling short by a whopping 42 percent in April. The Army was 16 percent behind its year-to-date target entering May, with a goal of signing up 80,000 recruits in fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30.

The Marine Corps missed its goal for signing up new recruits for four straight months entering May and was 2 percent behind its year-to-date goal. It hopes to sign up 38,195 recruits in fiscal 2005.

[membrain]

Glad to hear things are okay and that more IA are coming on stream. Growing pains are bound to happen but it's a move in the right direction.

Godspeed.

[Rob]

Jeez..

Are we still trotting out the drop in enlistment numbers as "proof"? Proof of what?
***Military recruiters have said potential recruits and their parents were expressing wariness about enlisting during the Iraq war. They said improving civilian job opportunities also were affecting recruiting. *****

What, exactly, is so damning about this? I fail to see your point, if you have one at all. This is just simple reality, not condemnation. They are still showing up- It's not like everyone is going to rise up and form some socialist people's anti-army, develop alternative fuels from patchouli and protest signs and storm Halliburton's corporate offices.

As for the major? He is still puffed up and gung ho. There's more behind him.

[Some Soldier's Mom]

more IA is good news --- means you all will be coming home sooner than later.. after a job well done!

[armynurseboy]

Y'know, blogs are really good tools for the Army (and the military in general) to advertise the truth about what we do and what is going on boots on the ground. Most blogs are postitive, some are negative, but as an outsider, I'd want to have both sides of the story. As long as you are not compromising OPSEC, I don't see the harm. I guess we just need a uniform guidance from DoD about what's appopriate and what is not.....

[Enjoy the Stay]

Missed the point did you? Easy to do when you've wrapped yourself so tightly in the flag that circulation's cut off to your brain. The point is thus--the recruiting "problem" will become a recruiting crisis by summer's end. With cannon fodder notwillingly signing up, either A--the draft is inevitable, or B--Major K needs to buy a house in Iraq since he and his ilk will be there forthe next ten years or so. I'm betting option A, which means W's entire imperial house o'cards collapses. Think I'm wrong? Check back in June 2006.

[Mike]

Only a fool thinks the draft is inevitable. There is no way the House and Senate will vote for a draft without a major war on our hands.

[Bert]

Enjoy the Stay, you are an asshole.

[Rob]

Okay, ETS, or Chyron, or Phyruss- I'll bite.

1) Your point is basically thus- "It's a lost cause, give up." My question to you is this-"Why?" What is your motive for constantly bringing this up? Salon articles and such no doubt give you a warm fuzzy feeling, but why does it annoy you so much that a soldier exhibit professionalism and morale?

2) Here's what you fail to grasp- It's a war. Not a major conflict, granted- But it's enough of one to be unpredictable and touch and go on most days. Given all the other more profitable or less dangerous options that they are faced with, men and women are still showing up. The Armed Services do what they're told, and try to maintain enough dignity in the process to believe in themselves and the cause for which they fight and die for no matter who happens to be giving the orders from the top. Draft or no draft, war or no war, they will always be there.
The military is used to operating under these conditions- It's their job, and has been since the concept of a professional army was born. They can withstand you, the enemy and the politicians who call the shots. So, yes- I WILL check back in 2006.

Irritating, isn't it?

[Dan]

Hello, Major K!

2/hr at an Internet cafe? That would suck in the States but, in Iraq, I think THAT is a good deal. I think it is fantastic that Iraq even has the Internet, more so for an "Internet cafe."

Train those troops and get'em organized so you can come home. Keep up the good work.

Thank you!

---Dan

PS.
Oh. By the way, is the 2$/hr tax deductible?

---D.