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Friday, April 02, 2004

Army divisions hit re-up targets

Washington Times
Army divisions that fought the past 12 months in Iraq have met virtually every re-enlistment goal, a sign that the all-volunteer force remains strong under the stress of frequent deployments and hazardous duty.

The Pentagon has been closely monitoring the re-up rate for five Army divisions that fought in Iraq for about a year. Some officials feared the time away from home and the gritty duty would prompt a large soldier exodus. After all, the war on terrorism is unchartered territory. The 30-year-old volunteer Army has never been this busy in combat.

But numbers compiled this week for the first half of fiscal 2004 show that those five combat units met, or nearly met, all retention targets for enlisted soldiers...
As has almost always been the case, US military units that have been deployed to combat zones have higher retention rates than those that don’t. It is obvious that, contrary to the idea that most of these folks are in it to escape poverty or for free college and other benefits, most soldiers not only know what they’re signing up for, but they actually want to do it.

The U.S. military is a self-selecting class of the population, and they do not react in the same ways that the majority of the population would under the same set of circumstances. Historian John Keegan calls them the "Warrior Class", and argues that a certain small percentage of all societies are inherently inclined to this disposition. Specifically, some individuals have the need to find self-actualization through combat. Or, to put it another way, some people just like to fight. Keegan argues that this is in fact part of human nature, and that the warrior class and other classes in society are almost always mutually incomprehensible to one another.

Side Note: One of the problems with finding information on topics like this, is that it forces you to read the Washington Times. This is due to the fact that they are one of the few media sources that cover a story like this. Coverage of military affairs in papers like the NYTimes and WaPost really stinks. People who go into journalism and people who go into the military just can't seem to communicate with each other.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040401-115508-9161r.htm
Posted by: Zayphar / 4/02/2004 09:52:00 PM
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