Why Do They Enlist?

By Alanna Jones
AUSTIN - Many Americans wonder why men and women continue to enlist in the military during a long and increasingly unpopular war. Yet according to a report by American Forces Press Service, all branches of the military are on target and meeting their goals even though the Iraq war has gained little momentum over the past few years.

“Despite a challenging recruiting environment, all four branches of the military have met with significant recruiting success in the past year and are on target to continue that success,” noted American Forces Press Service reporter Sgt. Sara Moore in a press release on the U.S. Department of Defense Web site on Feb. 1.

The question of course is how has the military filled the gap between declining public enthusiasm and the seemingly buoyant recruiting effort? In a nutshell, the answer appears to be that the DOD no longer accepts the best of the best, but is helping to meet its recruitment goals by, among other things, providing legal waivers for men and women with criminal records to join up.

In an article on WashingtonPost.com, staff writer Ann Scott Tyson reported that crimes enlistees have been convicted of include felony burglary, grand larceny and aggravated assault. In the Army such crimes rose “from 249 to 511, while the corresponding number for the Marines increased by two-thirds, from 208 to 350,” over the past two years.

In addition to accepting men and women into the military with lackluster qualifications, the military has also been able to reach its goals through incentives such as education benefits, the opportunity to learn a trade or skill, and the prospects of an income with which soldiers might support themselves and their families.

“Declining interest in military service [is] in part caused by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, [which] has led to accepting more recruits with criminal backgrounds,” reported Tyson.

The military also issues waivers for not having a high school diploma and below par military aptitude test scores. On April 17 National Public Radio correspondent Tom Bowman reported that in the early 1990s military enlistees with high school diplomas stood at 100 percent but has recently slipped to 79 percent.

The picture may be at least slightly more complicated when viewed from the grassroots level where those who sign up for the military actually live their lives. Recent interviews with prospective and past enlistees reveal the array of motivations that still prompt women and men to purse a hitch in uniform.

Jean Foley, 21, who is currently pregnant and waiting until after her delivery to enlist in the Navy, said she never thought about joining the military, but now realizes it’s hard to raise a family and make a sufficient income with little education.

“I’ve gotten in trouble in my past and it’s hard for employers to overlook the things I’ve done,” Foley said. “It’s hard to get a job and gain a second chance as the person that I am today because of what my record says.”

Foley said that she knows the military will afford her a way to provide health care and a stable home for her two daughters.

“Many may not agree with accepting people like me into the military,” Foley said, “but this is what I have to do to maintain in today’s world.”

Yet there are those who argue that joining the military offers much more than a last chance at getting a life on track. “It’s a stigma out there that a lot of people think that the military is the last resort, but it’s not,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Juan Zea.

Zea, who joined the Air Force because he was surrounded by friends and family who were Air Force personnel, said that recruits join the military for many reasons, the main one being the tuition assistance soldiers receive to go to college.

Before October 2002, the Air Force would only pay for instructional fees that were attached to classes such as biology or chemistry labs. The Air Force now pays tuition costs and mandatory fees for up to $250 per semester hour or $750 per three-hour course.

Navy veteran Greg Jones, 52, joined the military in 1973 because he wanted to be able to go to college and earn his diploma after dropping out of high school. “I wasn’t able to graduate with my class because I was lacking a half credit and was embarrassed so I joined the Navy to receive my GED and soon after earned my high school diploma,” Jones said.

Jones, the youngest of 10 children, was working at his brother’s filling station when he decided to join the Navy. Jones said the Navy was his way to see the world and leave a life of drugs behind. “The military helped me find self esteem,” he said. “It was a second chance.”

Other recruits are motivated by emotion. “Sometimes people just need a reason to feel proud,” Zea said.

Marine Corps Pfc. Millard Washington, 24, of Houston, Texas said that it is his Christian duty to serve the people of his country.

“Although I have a career, I felt like there was a bigger purpose to my life than working,” Washington said. “This is my way of blessing the country that has given me so much.” Washington has a bachelor’s degree in theology.

Like Washington, Florida native Logan Jenkins, 21, who began his enlistment process into the Air Force in San Antonio in April, said he believes his life would be okay without the military but wants to turn his life around and make use of his existing abilities.

“I don’t want to be alone in life and I like to help people out in anyway I can. I’m good at electronics so why not apply my skills in a more positive way,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins, who was raised by various relatives throughout his life, has been involved in drug-related activity and has undertaken several failed attempts to live on his own. Undeterred by his rocky background, he said that the Air Force is not his only way to grab success, but it is giving him a second chance.

“If the Air Force is going to give me the opportunity,” Jenkins said, “why not take it?”