Cornyn calls for hearings on recruiter suicides

[unhappycamper]

Cornyn calls for hearings on recruiter suicides
By Michelle Roberts - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 22, 2009 18:56:51 EST

SAN ANTONIO —Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday called for a congressional hearing on suicides among Army recruiters, saying a recent group of deaths in an East Texas battalion show the strain on an all-volunteer force fighting two wars.

While an Army investigation attributed the four suicides over three years in the Houston Recruiting Battalion to a combination of work environment, stress and personal issues, Cornyn said investigators found the Army was violating its own regulations by pressuring recruiters to meet individual recruiting goals that are higher than allowed.

“As you might imagine, corners might have been cut — and they were — given the exigency of recruiting for war,” Cornyn said in a conference call with reporters. “The concern is that this is not isolated to a single battalion.”

Cornyn asked the Senate Armed Services Committee to schedule a hearing to address the strain recruiters are under to fill an all-volunteer force during wartime. Family members of some of the recruiters who committed suicide have complained that the isolating high-stress job crushed combat-veteran recruiters.

Four members of the 266-member battalion that covers most of East Texas have committed suicide since 2005. Nationwide, 15 recruiters have committed suicide since 2003; the Houston battalion was the only one to report more than one.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_cornyn_recruiters_suicides_012209w/%2e

[cboy4]

1. That John Cornyn is an A-1 asshole, lemme tell ya

He loves all the wars and bloodshed, and now acts concerned about a situation he's indirectly caused.

I support what he's doing, but I have zero respect for that fool.