Army Recruiter Suicides Prompt Investigations

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: NPR

The Army is investigating a cluster of suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion, where five soldiers have taken their own lives since 2001. Nationally, 17 recruiters have committed suicide during the same period....

***

At the Houston battalion's headquarters, there is an investigation under way and no one was available for comment, but the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox in Kentucky said a general has been appointed to look into the matter. Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn called for the investigation. "I asked for an independent investigation," Cornyn says. "This is not what I call an independent investigation, but it's a step in the right direction. And my hope is after this command investigation, I hope we'll hold hearings."

One of the questions the senator wants answered is whether it is wise to order combat veterans to take recruiting jobs. Most of them don't volunteer.

"I believe that short of being shot at — you know, risking your life — that recruiting is the toughest job in the Army," says James Larsen, a retired senior policy analyst for the Army Recruiting Command....

Whether or not recruiters have the highest stress level, there's little doubt they are under extraordinary pressure to sell the Army to a small number of reluctant consumers. Add to that the marital stress brought on by 12- to 14-hour workdays, the isolation of being stationed in small towns far from a base — and in the Houston battalion's case, alleged abusive treatment of those who didn't produce their quota — and you have a potentially toxic cocktail.

But Cornyn is concerned about another matter. "Part of this that was troubling was the suggestion that there was pressure being put down the chain of command to keep this quiet," he says. Cornyn wants to know if the Houston battalion's problems are an isolated case, or whether recruiter stress patterns are similar in other places....

Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98913061

[treestar]

1. Wonder what the investigation will show

Maybe some a-hole in an upper level position creating undue stress?

[Sirveri]

2. recruiting sounds JUST like my time in the Navy.

Navy nukes are treated like crap, 12 to 14 hours would be AWESOME. I routinely was at work for 90+ hours a week. It was really great pulling the mid watch, having to magically force yourself to sleep at 6PM (after having worked since 7AM) get maybe 5 hours of sleep, then wake up at 11PM to stand a 6 hour watch followed by another 12 hour work day. But I only had to do that every 4 days, so what do I have to complain about. I won't even talk about the 'work' I had to do or quals.

I would have rather gone to Iraq and get shot at then deal with that garbage.

[tabasco]

3. You think grunts work 40 hour weeks?

Nope.

[Sirveri]

4. depends on the grunts.

If you're in the field getting shot at, probably not. If you're a corpsman doing a hospital tour then you'll be pretty close to 40 a week. I was talking to some guys who worked the brig system, they had 12 hour shifts, 4 days on 4 days off cycling (averages out to about 42hrs a week).

And getting shot at is a whole hell of a lot more potent work than chipping paint for 90 hours a week (for a year and a half). At least getting shot at you feel like something is getting accomplished and you're doing something important (I rate staying alive important, not the fighting for oil/greed, YMMV).

[rpannier]

6. ONe of the things that really sucks about being a recruiter (at least in the Army)

Is that all goals are tabulated monthly.

If you're supposed to get 20 a month and one month you get 100 and the next month you get 9 and 22 the following month, your Eval still records that you failed. Because you missed a monthly quota.

This was the way it was in the early 90's and it may have changed since then.

[MrsBrady]

5. since when does Cornyn give a crap

what's in it for him?

[Alcibiades]

7. They should recruit car salesmen for this

Not combat veterans.

[Shipwack]

9. Oddly enough, many car sales were former recruiters... nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Let me tell you, they're not adding to the peace and calm of a community either.

Think about what they're asked to do. They come into a community, maybe even taking a job recruiting in a school, where they become buddy-buddies with the other veterans who may be teachers or coaches. If the school is a right-wing community, the process of fairness disappears completely when the recruiters and veterans bestow favoritism on those students who enlist. The kids may be marginal at best in grades and athletic abilities, but they garner the Awards to promote the recruiting process. So everyone walks away with just a little less respect for the military personnel that have to serve in these positions, and people avoid them once they realize how they operate, unless they want something from them.

I've sat there when one of these veterans gave one of these awards to a kid, who though a nice kid, wouldn't have been on anybody's top choice. And when the veteran announced the name, the applause was lame. Because there was such a huge scholarship involved, the veteran used the moment to pump up military service and almost with a booming military command voice demanded another round of applause. The applause was lame again.

And this was in a red county.

[starroute]

10. I recall the Houston recruiting scandal coming out last summer

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Congressman_wants_hearings_into_Army_recruiting_0807.html

A Houston congressman is angry after learning that an Army recruiter in his district lied to a student who had changed his mind about enlisting and threatened he would be arrested as a deserter.

KHOU 11 news, which first reported the story last week, has found that the problem is not confined to Houston. In fact, "citations for recruiter wrongdoing have nearly doubled over the past several years, and complains are up too."

"That's not what our country's about," Rep. Gene Green told KHOU. "There's a problem with the system in the Army." . . .

Green appeared on the syndicated program Democracy Now! on Thursday morning and was particularly concerned that the recruiter involved in a similar incident in Houston three years ago had actually been promoted to station commander following the incident.

[DeepModem Mom]

11. Thanks for this additional info, starroute. nt

[Joe Chi Minh]

12. Nightmare upon nightmare.