An Army of 41,000

[William769]

With recruiting shortfalls in the military, the Defense Department needs to look elsewhere. Some estimates say there are 41,000 LGBT Americans who are ready to sign up for duty.

The Army needs a few good men and women. According to the Army’s Chief of Staff, recruiting levels haven’t dipped this low since 1999, the last time the Army was not able to meet its annual goal for new enlistees.

The story behind the men and women the Army cannot find is one of real consequence: U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan are dealing with a severe shortage of Arabic translators. Even the recruiters needed to recruit new soldiers are growing fewer and farther between. A lack of labor is a very real concern during peacetime; during the War on Terror it routinely makes front-page news. So it seems perplexing that military leaders have not focused on a simple solution that could shrink, or even eliminate, the recruiting shortfall: getting rid of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gay troops.

“There are thousands of men and women out there who want to serve this country,” Gen. Peter Pace, incoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, recently told Congress. Statistically he’s right; strategically he’s missing a prime target. Gary J. Gates, a senior research fellow at the Williams Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, recently reported that as many as 41,000 new recruits could be found if the gay ban were repealed. That’s enough people to entirely staff half a dozen aircraft carriers, and significantly more than the 30,000 extra troops the Army Chief of Staff said he needed in October. It is also far more than the number of recruits—32,879—the Army must find in order to meet its annual goal for 2005.

http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid19467.asp

I say FUCK THEM! They had their chance to let us serve. Now that they are desperate they can kiss my lilly white ass. :mad:

[eleny]

1. Good for you - well said!

[Boomer]

2. 41,000 masochistic suicidal gays?

That's certainly a depressing statistic. At least as depressing as the thought of Log Cabin Republicans licking the boots of the Republican party leaders.

Please, sir, kick me some more!

[Ian David]

3. Create an all-gay mercenary company

You make four times as much money and you get to pick your own work schedule.