A wave of waivers by Claudia Sonea

The Associated Press stumbled on the news that the Pentagon is on the hunt for easier ways for people with minor criminal records to join the military due to the higher recruiting demands. The increasing number of waivers for bad behavior such as trying drugs, stealing, carrying weapons on school grounds and fighting to 18 percent this year, reflects the fact that the ranks are being built more and more people with criminal background, health problems such as asthma or flat feet, to low aptitude scores and even for some tattoos. Pentagon's goal is to make waiver requirements consistent across the services like the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force and also to reduce the number of small misdemeanors that lead to the signing of such a document. However, they worry that the more soldiers with criminal records recruited, the less discipline they will have. Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel, is sure that the change is necessary, because it is not normal for people that committed indiscretion in their youth to be punished and also waivers require more time, paperwork and investigation, from detailed health screenings and doctor referrals to testimonials about past bad behavior. There is an increased demand in uniform waivers that usually differs from one institution to another. For example the Marines require a waiver for one-time marijuana use, while the other services don't. Therefore it is not benefic in the context that 69 percent of conduct waivers for Marines who joined from October 2006 to June 2007 were for previous drug use. The army is facing a 12 percent of waiver for previous drug use, while 71 percent enhances serious misdemeanors like thefts worth more than $500, any incident involving a dangerous weapon on school grounds, or minor assaults and fights. On the other side, those that were juveniles and the charge was dismissed after restitution are affected by the waver. Also in Air force 77 percent of the waivers were for conduct, in opposite the Navy had a decline in waivers for conduct to 40.3 percent in June. Due to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan the Pentagon recommended the Army be increased by about 65,000 soldiers to a total of 547,000, and the Marines be increased by 27,000 to 202,000. These numbers can be fulfilled either by doing more recruitments, either by convincing some of the older soldier to stay in the battle. Therefore it is expected for the wavers demands to decline. Still, the relaxing of regulations is not well regarded. Despite the small number of people who are unjustly required to sign a waver, there is a the problem with the discipline that according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, represents an issue for most officers. He agrees that the waivers won't help to keep the soldiers under control, but definitely, something must be done. What will happen? Don't go away, more to come.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/military_waivers;_ylt=ArW4CkPFwS.AjQbKtWN1W02s0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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