Somehow, John Cole slipped off our bloglists, which I'll correct as soon as I finish this post. It's particularly distressing because John has been blogging up a storm recently, and his last post on the military's failure to meet it's recruitment goals is a must read. Bottom line: the latest recruitment figures look terrible. Fortunately, the Department of Defense has a solution: It's going to stop releasing recruitment figures. [UPDATE: Whoops, that's a pretty big screwup by me. The DoD is stopping the services from independently releasing recruitment figures, but it's not stopping the release of such figures alltogether. Rather, the figures will be consolidated in to a single release, purportedly so that they can be "reviewed" by the DoD. My sincere apologies. Still quite troubling, but not so nearly as troubling as my first reading implied.]
Read those last two sentences again.
I guess I should be thankful that the DoD has finally found a definitive answer to the old koan about trees falling in forests and no-one being around to notice. And thank God that it did; I was beginning to become concerned that there was a war on, and that the Administration didn't care all that much about winning it.
Let's hope that this "decision" gets revised.
Von, you're incorrect - the military had a range of solutions, not just one. The first was to lower the Army's recruiting target, which significantly reduced the amount by which recruiting fell below target. The second (I forget the source) was to release the figures for all services on the same day; this excellent example of a joint service/combined arms information operation would provide more cover from the Evul Librul Meedya.
Only now are they going to the strictly temporary expedient of a tactical withdrawal from some lesser-value areas of the information battlefield. This is only temporary, as the bright light around the turn of the tunnel is quite close; in fact, the ground is shaking as it advances with a loud noise.
Posted by: Barry | June 09, 2005 at 11:59 AM
Von, not quite:
The piece from Army Times is quite clear that the new policy is NOT to "stop releasing recruitment figures", but to consolidate the release of said figures into a single monthly report from DoD, rather than piecemeal by Service, as before.
That said, the key graf that caught my eye was the following:
"The change will ensure consistency and give Pentagon officials time to review the data...."
IIJM, or does this look to be a Pentagon euphemism for "cook the books for PR benefits"? or "Hide bad news"?
Posted by: Jay C | June 09, 2005 at 12:03 PM
It's going to stop releasing recruitment figures.
i forget where i read it, but a a week or so ago, either a blogger or a commentor predicted they'd do this, the same way they did with labor stats and the number of terror incidents. so, congratulations, un-remembered prophet.
Posted by: cleek | June 09, 2005 at 12:10 PM
Ahh, I read too quickly and misread the article. A correction is coming.
Posted by: von | June 09, 2005 at 12:18 PM
Recall Asquith's quip about the War Office's casualty figures: "one set to mislead the public, another to mislead the Cabinet, and a third to mislead themselves."
La plus ça change ...
Posted by: Anderson | June 09, 2005 at 12:31 PM
The problem, in a nutshell:
Posted by: felixrayman | June 09, 2005 at 12:34 PM
OTOH, the Army was bigger back then. But you're right; if the sons and daughters of the elite would sign up, our problems would over. I was talking with a former co-worker, who was opposed to the war, and to the Bush administration. But she did agree that her son and daughter would follow Barb and Jenna, if they went to Iraq.
So we have a solution!
Posted by: Barry | June 09, 2005 at 01:00 PM
Of the 1,100 males and females in last year's Princeton class, eight joined.
Huh. I think that's down a bit from when I went there, but I'm not sure. I wonder if that statistic also includes ROTC?
Posted by: Anarch | June 09, 2005 at 01:15 PM
We need a South Park-esque movie about Barb & Jenna going to Iraq & (1) kicking butt while (2) doing Da Butt.
I'd like to be on the team of lawyers the studio would have to hire.
Posted by: Anderson | June 09, 2005 at 01:48 PM
Interesting stat, but seems fishy. If the '56 alumni 'went on' to military service, I assume that means at any point later in their lives. Obviously the people who graduated last year haven't had as much time to have any point later in their lives. Still, you'd think the vast majority go immediately after college.
Posted by: sidereal | June 09, 2005 at 02:10 PM
"750 males in his graduating class at Princeton University in 1956, more than 400 went on to serve in the military."
This was of course based on many factors:a larger military, a cold war perception, a different attitude toward the military, including the understanding that you could survive six years of service;with such a very large cohort of veterans behind them, it helped the young & ambitious immeasurably to have the military resume for politics, business, etc.
But it was also the draft. Enlisted men had many many options, advantages, and benefits including education, choice of assignment;with degree an instant or quick commission.
The point being that the draft helped immeasurably with enlistment, both in quality and quantity.
Posted by: bob mcmanus | June 09, 2005 at 02:19 PM
"Interesting stat, but seems fishy. If the '56 alumni 'went on' to military service, I assume that means at any point later in their lives. Obviously the people who graduated last year haven't had as much time to have any point later in their lives. Still, you'd think the vast majority go immediately after college."
Posted by: sidereal
Excellent point! And does 'last year' mean the ones who just graduated, or the year before.
If he meant the class of '04, why in God's name should they have gone into the military? After all, major combat operations were over, and we were just witnessing the final death struggles of the dead enders, or something like that. Things were going well, schools were being painted at a furious rate, the armed forces didn't need any more troops in Iraq, and recruiting was going fine, and thelight at the end of the tunnel... oops, wrong war, and besides, those pesky minorities took all of the slots.
Anyway, it'd be reasonable to a bright young thing from Princeton, who only watched America-Loving Media like Faux to conclude that they'd only be in the way.
Posted by: Barry | June 09, 2005 at 02:25 PM
Recruiting Tactics: One Mother's Story
I think we have more of this to look forward to, as quotes continue to not be met.
Posted by: CaseyL | June 09, 2005 at 02:38 PM
"I think we have more of this to look forward to, as quotes continue to not be met."
Thats a pretty scary story for those of us with teenagers. It sounds like the Marines are learning recruiting tactics from the Moonies.
Posted by: vida | June 09, 2005 at 02:58 PM
And we haven't even seen the fun part yet - aren't there a lot of Army NCO's facing their third tour of Iraq? When the privates have poor morale, that's a problem. When the NCO's have poor morale, that's a problem which is less solvable. A third year in Iraq, with the war showing no sign of ending.....
Posted by: Barry | June 09, 2005 at 03:57 PM
Speaking changing reports (Today's update
"It sounds like the Marines are learning recruiting tactics from the Moonies."
Interesting new idea: have the Army subcontract out all recruiting to both Reverend Moon and to the Church of Scientology. Tom Cruise stars in recruiting films! No one notices any change in his films! (If Moon can control the "conservative" newspaper in the nation's capital without anyone blinking an eye at their being a credible source, how much of a leap is it to have him recruit and indoctrinate the military as well?) As an added benefit, eventually the current problems at the Air Force Academy will disappear.
Posted by: Gary Farber | June 09, 2005 at 04:08 PM
Gary, that last'd be funny, in a sick way - imagine the look on the Evangelicals' faces when they realize that they're in the hands of people who share their level of respect for religious freedom.
Posted by: Barry | June 09, 2005 at 06:28 PM
. . .and what the bleeding fuck did I just come across on the Internet? And I thought Tone (the PM was off his nut! You freaking Americans need one of two things: to get out more often and breath some of your cabon-monoxide laden air permitting your feeble over-gunned brains the chance to respire - or you need more hand guns with 'U' shaped barrels so you can immediately get answers to your own inane questions. I'm not particular which so long as you stop.
All for now. Totaloo, ta ta and cheerio boys.
Elisha M.
What sick mind did the kitten with the rifle photograph? No, no, never mind, I don't really wish to know. Thank God I live on an island.
Posted by: Elisha Moor | August 17, 2005 at 09:31 PM
. . .and what the bleeding fuck did I just come across on the Internet? And I thought Tone (the PM was off his nut! You freaking Americans need one of two things: to get out more often and breath some of your cabon-monoxide laden air permitting your feeble over-gunned brains the chance to respire - or you need more hand guns with 'U' shaped barrels so you can immediately get answers to your own inane questions. I'm not particular which so long as you stop.
All for now. Totaloo, ta ta and cheerio boys.
Elisha M.
What sick mind did the kitten with the rifle photograph? No, no, never mind, I don't really wish to know. Thank God I live on an island.
Posted by: Elisha Moor | August 17, 2005 at 09:32 PM