0 Votes
join the army...sort of
The Army has taken yet more extreme measures to try and overcome its significant recruiting shortfalls. Now you can sign up for just 15 months. Yep, just 15 months. The normal three or four year enlistment may become a thing of the past if a new Army recruiting pilot program takes off. This action has been inspired by what the head of US Army Recruiting Command said is "the toughest recruiting climate ever faced by the all-volunteer Army."
I may not understand this fully, but 15 months of service is nothing as far as a unit is concerned. Perhaps the Army thinks that it can persuade these soldiers to stay in once they join, but this looks like an act of real desperation. This also will pose problems as the Army tries to “life-cycle,” meaning that soldiers become locked into a unit for something like 36 months.
RE: join the army...sort of by brentp
I believe the 15 month enlistment is a product of the life-cycle manning discussed above. Once the Soldier is in a life-cycle manned unit, they either leave or are forced to stay. Let just say Private Joe is confronted by his commander and is asked "You going or staying? Come on, what’s it going to be? Real men stay in." What will Private Joe do? He’s eager to please and to prove he is a man. He’s going to say, "Well my contract is for 15 months, what’s another 13!" Its the perfect ploy for the Army to use at the birth of life-cycle manning. Come in under the belief that you’re in for 15 and you’re staying for at least 36 whether you want to or not. I have seen this numerous times in the past 6 months alone. Its pure genius! Well deserving of an ARCOM for whomever did the beer math on this one.