Are you *sure* military recruiting is doing fine?

[Dos Equis]

She was asked if she worried about an assasination attempt on Barrack if he ran and her answer was "being a black man Barrack could get shot just as easy going to the gas station" and then he was asked if he thought he was "black enough" to win the black vote. He made a comment that he must be black enough because he has trouble flagging down a taxi in chicago...

Well . . . .    She could have been talking about "black on black crime."  If she wasn't, then she was clearly playing the race card.  And the taxi reference might actually be true, but sounds like a joke to me. 

I have been critical of his failure to talk about the issues, but comments from a liberal has me taking a closer look at him.  The comments were to effect that it's not so much where he stands on issues, it's his intelligence and judgment and whether he uses those qualities to make good decisions.  All I'm really saying is I haven't closed the door on him . . . yet.

That said, I wouldn't vote for Hillary if she were the only candidate in the race.

[rockyfortune]

I see.  So there were no speed bums in recruiting during WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Desert Storm?  I'll believe that when I see the numbers. 

And to say people were ever falling over themselves to go die in a war is a stretch.  I don't know if there was a small bump right after Pearl Harbor (maybe, maybe not), but I doubt recruiting increased during WWII. 

dude, are you kidding me with this comment? you doubt recruiting increased during wwII...guess again..dudes were shooting themselves for getting 4F'd (disqualified for service)....the day after pearl harbor men were lined up and down the streets to recruiting offices....plus recruitment wasn't needed...there was a national service order law that stated you had to serve at least 12 months in the military...so if you didn't join on your own you were drafted.

[Dos Equis]

dude, are you kidding me with this comment? you doubt recruiting increased during wwII...guess again..dudes were shooting themselves for getting 4F'd (disqualified for service)....the day after pearl harbor men were lined up and down the streets to recruiting offices....plus recruitment wasn't needed...there was a national service order law that stated you had to serve at least 12 months in the military...so if you didn't join on your own you were drafted.

Like I said, there may or may not have been a small bump right after Pearl Harbor, but I'm talking about the entire conflict and whether recruiting increased or decreased during the war.  You got some numbers? 

[rockyfortune]

Like I said, there may or may not have been a small bump right after Pearl Harbor, but I'm talking about the entire conflict and whether recruiting increased or decreased during the war.  You got some numbers? 

The Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941, followed by a declaration of war on Germany and Japan, greatly accelerated the mobilization of U.S. naval forces in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. On 30 June 1941, the Marine Corps had 3,642 officers and 41,394 enlisted Marines, and was expanding at the rate of 2,000 enlistments a month. After Pearl Harbor, the enlistments exploded with 8,500 in December 1941, 13,000 in January 1942, and 10,000 in February. By June of that year, the strength of the Marine Corps had more than tripled.

On 5 February 1942, the U.S. Navy established its first base on the European side of the Atlantic, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on the banks of the River Foyle. That forward base had become necessary be cause the fleet could not operate efficiently for any length of time more than 2,000 miles from a naval base.


here's the link:  http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003125-00/sec4.htm

[Dos Equis]

The Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941, followed by a declaration of war on Germany and Japan, greatly accelerated the mobilization of U.S. naval forces in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. On 30 June 1941, the Marine Corps had 3,642 officers and 41,394 enlisted Marines, and was expanding at the rate of 2,000 enlistments a month. After Pearl Harbor, the enlistments exploded with 8,500 in December 1941, 13,000 in January 1942, and 10,000 in February. By June of that year, the strength of the Marine Corps had more than tripled.

On 5 February 1942, the U.S. Navy established its first base on the European side of the Atlantic, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on the banks of the River Foyle. That forward base had become necessary be cause the fleet could not operate efficiently for any length of time more than 2,000 miles from a naval base.


here's the link:  http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003125-00/sec4.htm

Thanks Rocky.  Good info.  I guess my next question would be what happened from Feb. 42 to 1945 when the war ended?  (I'll look that up when I get a chance.)  If we are comparing recruiting and retention during times of conflict, then we'd need to look at what happened at the start of the war and about four years in (like the current war in Iraq).  I would imagine there was a spike in recruitment right after 911 too.  I'll see what I can find on whether recruiting and retention during WWII continued to thrive in 1944 and 1945.

[OzmO]

Thanks Rocky.  Good info.  I guess my next question would be what happened from Feb. 42 to 1945 when the war ended?  (I'll look that up when I get a chance.)  If we are comparing recruiting and retention during times of conflict, then we'd need to look at what happened at the start of the war and about four years in (like the current war in Iraq).  I would imagine there was a spike in recruitment right after 911 too.  I'll see what I can find on whether recruiting and retention during WWII continued to thrive in 1944 and 1945.

Cav 22  would know.  I got a book at home that might have those answers

[Dos Equis]

Cav 22  would know.  I got a book at home that might have those answers

O.K.  I'll wait for your info. 

[rockyfortune]

I'll see what I can dig up on the Army and AAF...i have a shitload of books at home on it..