Military Moral Issues

WASHINGTON — Defense officials believe they have rules in place to make sure gang members aren’t signing up or being recruited to join the military. The Army — and the Defense Department as a whole — have come under fire in recent years for loosening recruiting standards in the face of enlistment shortages.

In fiscal 2006, 13,600 Army recruits were issued waivers for various moral and medical issues, up 18 percent from the year before. Eighty-one percent of the recruits had high school diplomas, down 6 percent from the previous year.

Service officials have maintained that the overall quality of the force has not been compromised by the softened recruiting stance.

The Army will give waivers for some “moral issues,” such as a DUI or possession of small amounts of marijuana, but will not consider any recruits with convictions of trafficking drugs or any sexually violent crimes, or anyone with more than one felony conviction, officials said.

Barfield said gangsters he has spoken with view the Army as a way to boost their skill set. "They’re going in as mechanics, truck drivers, medics," he said. "Think about it — if you [steal] a truck full of electronics, you have to know how to drive it. Medics treat gun wounds, and that is what a gangster is likely to suffer from. They know what to do, they know what game to play. Gangbanging is their job. It’s their career."

---- And in other news, American voters continue to cheer and wave at politicians who toke without inhaling, have daddy fix-its DUI, adulterers, profiteers of death and maiming, looters who pardon one another, hire one another, wife beaters and man-eaters, half of 'em gay, the other half pedophiles. But, they know the game. Banging sheeple is their job, it's their career.