Military Waivers for Ex-Convicts Increase

[Vermouth]

"The Army admitted about one-fourth more recruits last year with a record of legal problems ranging from felony convictions and serious misdemeanors to drug crimes and traffic offenses, as pressure to increase the size of U.S. ground forces led the military to grant more waivers for criminal conduct, according to new data released yesterday.

Such "conduct waivers" for Army recruits rose from 8,129 in fiscal 2006 to 10,258 in fiscal 2007. For Marine Corps recruits, they increased from 16,969 to 17,413.

In particular, the Army accepted more than double the number of applicants with convictions for felony crimes such as burglary, grand larceny and aggravated assault, rising from 249 to 511, while the corresponding number for the Marines increased by two-thirds, from 208 to 350. The vast majority of such convictions stem from juvenile offenses. Most involved theft, but a handful involved sexual assault and terrorist threats, and there were three cases of involuntary manslaughter.

...

Recruits with criminal records have shown mixed performance in the military. A study last year by the Center for Naval Analyses tracked the attrition rates of Marines who enlisted with legal waivers between 2003 and 2005. It showed slightly higher boot camp attrition for those with serious or minor misdemeanor waivers, but somewhat lower attrition for those who committed felonies.

However, those with waivers were "quite a bit more likely" than other recruits to be separated from the service for misconduct within two years, and "recruits with felony waivers have the highest chance of a misconduct separation," it found..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042103295.html

[gunit_sangh]

Hey .. but at least they kept them damn queers out 

[wow]

"The Army admitted about one-fourth more recruits last year with a record of legal problems ranging from felony convictions and serious misdemeanors to drug crimes and traffic offenses, as pressure to increase the size of U.S. ground forces led the military to grant more waivers for criminal conduct, according to new data released yesterday.

Such "conduct waivers" for Army recruits rose from 8,129 in fiscal 2006 to 10,258 in fiscal 2007. For Marine Corps recruits, they increased from 16,969 to 17,413.

In particular, the Army accepted more than double the number of applicants with convictions for felony crimes such as burglary, grand larceny and aggravated assault, rising from 249 to 511, while the corresponding number for the Marines increased by two-thirds, from 208 to 350. The vast majority of such convictions stem from juvenile offenses. Most involved theft, but a handful involved sexual assault and terrorist threats, and there were three cases of involuntary manslaughter.

...

Recruits with criminal records have shown mixed performance in the military. A study last year by the Center for Naval Analyses tracked the attrition rates of Marines who enlisted with legal waivers between 2003 and 2005. It showed slightly higher boot camp attrition for those with serious or minor misdemeanor waivers, but somewhat lower attrition for those who committed felonies.

However, those with waivers were "quite a bit more likely" than other recruits to be separated from the service for misconduct within two years, and "recruits with felony waivers have the highest chance of a misconduct separation," it found..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042103295.html

I can't believe the US Military is giving cons a second chance in life.
This should be stopped. 

[Peter1469]

I can't believe the US Military is giving cons a second chance in life.
This should be stopped. 


It certainly should be stopped once the war is over...

[gunit_sangh]

I can't believe the US Military is giving cons a second chance in life.
This should be stopped. 

when you're desparate for bodies ... anybody (except queers) is acceptable.

[wow]

I can't believe the US Military is giving cons a second chance in life.
This should be stopped. 


It certainly should be stopped once the war is over...

The Military has done this for years.
This is nothing more than attacking our brave troops for serving their country.

[they call me MR. GRUMPY god damn it!]

so baghdad sang do you oppose men/women with criminal convictions being allowed to serve in the military, are you bitching just to bitch or maybe you lament your passed inability to choose your bunk "mate"?  nothing like a good ole navy hot rack??   never mind, don't ask don't tell.

[gunit_sangh]

nice try haji-grumpee. can't you come up with a better taunt than that My 8 year-old grand-daughter can do a better job 

I was just pointing out the absurdity of banning gays while accepting rapists, child-molesters and thieves -- you know -- typical republicans 

[they call me MR. GRUMPY god damn it!]

no baghdad sang your just an old bitch bitching   there was no point to your post other than to ....BITCH

[FSUBecker]

This is a great move by the military. I am under no delusion that is move was prompted by anything other than the lack of members of the military, but giving these convicts a second chance is great. One of the main problems in the United States today is the lack of opportunity out of jail or prison former criminals have. Depending on the state and their offense, former convicts lose a number of their rights as American citizens (gun ownership and voting) and lack job opportunities that would prove conducive for a newly released criminal to live life on the straight on narrow.

[Peter1469]

Because of the Lautenberg Amendment the military cannot enlist, or keep, a person who has a conviction relating to spousal abuse.    http://www.gordon.army.mil/osja/lautenbu.htm

[spunkloaf]

no baghdad sang your just an old bitch bitching   there was no point to your post other than to ....BITCH

Actually, he has an excellent point there grump.  The US has a policy against negotiating with terrorists.  Violent criminals are classified by many as terrorists.  So why make deals for their freedom in exchange for service?  How can we trust criminals in the military?

Why do we give the government that kind of power, to free or capture anybody by their own reasoning?

Why doesn't the military just make another fucking video game and lure more young people to join up instead?  (by the way, I haven''t played America's Army for a couple weeks--I should get back on that review I was working on)

[they call me MR. GRUMPY god damn it!]

violent criminals are classified as terrorists?  the only point made within this thread was by fsu, noting the pointless disenfranchisement attached to criminal conviction.   

[wow]

Most of these cons enlisting have been convicted on drug charges. Those same drugs Liberals want to legalize.
Liberals are now using this second chance given to cons as an attack on our troops returning home from a victory in Iraq.
Liberals have no respect for anything that is American and this leads me to Obama's attitude and how Liberals are supporting him. 

[FSUBecker]

Most of these cons enlisting have been convicted on drug charges. Those same drugs Liberals want to legalize.

This further proves the point I made. What is the point for handicapping a person for the rest of their life for smoking some pot as a kid? The way the country works now having a criminal record means outside of minimum wage labor, it is going to be hard to find a job. And going back to the whole drug issue, the war on drugs is one of the biggest waste of federal and state resources of all time. You don't have to agree with legalizing drugs or not to see that the war on drugs is just a waste a tax payer's money and leads to an inflated federal government and our jails being full of petty drug users.