$ 40K For Your Life?

I am reminded of that tired old joke where the man is held up at gun point and demanded to turn over, "your money or your life." He replies, "take my wife, please!"

Bigger bonuses won't lead to more turn out of those who are employable elsewhere. Do you really want an Army full of people that need 40K straight up and can't get it by some other means? Moreover, if the trade off was a free trip to the big kitty litter box we know as Iraq, and the possiblity of getting killed, I don't think there will be many takers.

This latest lure/trick does show the world that, perhaps, the reason less and less people are joining up is that there isn't much support for the Opperation Iraqi "Freedom" on the home front. Most of us really are resigned to being stuck in the quagmire, but not very many want to pony up the big sacrifice (a la Patrick Tilman) for so little return, $40K or not. The difference between recruitment to fight WWII and this current conflagration is astounding.

Slice:

The Army wants to double the top cash bonus for new recruits to $40,000 in an effort to stem a continued recruiting shortfall in the midst of the Iraq war.

As another incentive, the Army is proposing a pilot program to provide up to $50,000 in home mortgage help for recruits who sign up for eight years of active duty, Lt. Col. Thomas Collins said in an interview Thursday.

Congress must approve both plans. The $40,000 bonuses would apply only to a limited number of hard-to-fill and still-undetermined jobs, Collins said.

The Army raised bonuses for some jobs to $20,000 in 1999. It has steadily made more jobs eligible for bonuses this year as the recruiting shortfall has deepened.

End Slice:

I suppose the real reason the W, Rove and Co don't want us seeing photos of boxes of GIs coming home with flags on them is becuase it is not a very good recruiting tool.