Currently the US Army is having trouble recruiting. These problems stem from the distrust of parents who lived thru the Vietnam War, as they remember the number of soldiers killed and would prefer their offspring are not needlessly sacrificed. Also indeed some of the issues come from the Democratic Side or Ultra Liberal side who say that the current administration is made up of Oil Folks and that this war is fake. Without getting into that heated debate, of which there is more than enough ammo for either side of the issue, there are more reasons. Another reason is the Army's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military. The Army due to these policies has been banned from many college campuses and are no longer welcomed there to recruit. If the Army were to change its gay policy, chances are it would not get the support of recruits of heterosexual mid-western Christian Religious God fearing recruits. After all if you are right wing conservative Christian the last place you would want to send your heterosexual kids to is an Army filled with gays.

Due to this factor the Army is in a catch 22, they need more soldiers in reserve to fight additional conflicts that might spring up. In 15 to 20 years from now our wars will be fought by robots, electronic weapons and biorhythmic induced human will dampener devices. Additionally the Army recruiters lack credibility due to mass media slander attacks originating from countries we actually call allies, over the Iraq war, Nigerian Yellow Cake, Food for Oil Program, etc., calling this war unjust. Of course others argue that Saddam Hussein did not keep his end of the bargain since the Gulf War I and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own people as we saw in his October 2005 and continuing trial. As if this were not enough, the US Army with its new initiatives and Future Fighting Force will need smarter soldiers to run the high tech equipment and thus need to recruit at a whole new level. Previously civilizations were plagued with high testosterone levels and had issues of what to do with all that piss and vinegar and rage of youth. Our civilization is no different and it is better to send them to wars than to have them join gangs or commit strong-armed robberies, assault and battery or talk out their innate human characteristic of violence on our civilized populous. We obviously do not wish to talk about such things, but it has been a problem throughout human history and we must address reality.

Army recruiters face additional hurdles in recruitment when in the recent past they had not told the whole truth. For instance the 130 Heat in the Sand Box, the reality of hurry up and wait warfare and disorganization of the whole ordeal. Still other issues such as body armor and the purported lack of Humvee armor by the media, which played on many channels including blasting on CNN, have hurt recruitment numbers. Many families of Gulf War I are not advising their kids to fight or die, due to the issues of Gulf War Sickness and issues vaccinations. The Army recruiters are completely out of touch, arrogant and act like used car salesmen. These issues coupled with those above are the real issues.

Does this lack of recruitment call for a draft or mandatory military service of every 18-22 year old as in some countries? Would such an issue just cause animosity? Some have suggested that the Oil Companies fight their own wars, buy their own weapons and recruit their own armies to protect their assets? Obvious such suggestions come from an ultra left wing voting block and Hollywood wishful thinking conspiracy groups, yet it is an interesting notion? After all you want to Keep America Green, you should join the Army. Actually if you want to keep America, we all might wish to think on how best to design a more attractive package which addresses all the issues, without sugar coating reality. Anyway, food for thought, be thinking on this for me.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs