Enlistments are down but divorces for soldiers are way up

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N086678.htm

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - In fresh signs of the strain the Iraq war has put on the U.S. military, the Army missed its fourth straight monthly recruiting goal in May, while divorce rates for officers have surged, officials said on Wednesday.

The regular Army, in a previously undisclosed move, lowered its recruiting target for May, but still came up about 25 percent short of the easier goal, officials said. Had it not lowered its target from 8,050 to 6,700 recruits for May, the Army would have missed its original goal by about 37 percent.

Meanwhile, the divorce rate more than tripled among Army officers from 2002 to last year, Pentagon figures showed. The Army provides most of the ground forces in the Iraq war, which began in 2003. snip

In fiscal 2002, which ended on Sept. 30 of that year, 1.9 percent of 54,542 married Army officers got divorced, along with 3.1 percent of 193,638 married enlisted soldiers.

In fiscal 2003, which included the first six months of the Iraq war, 3.3 percent of 56,078 married officers and 2.8 percent of 198,230 married enlisted soldiers got divorced. In fiscal 2004, 6 percent of 55,550 married officers and 3.5 percent of 202,134 married enlisted soldiers got divorced.