Military: Felons OK, Gays Not
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- jcwelker
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http://365gay.com/Newscon08/04/042108ask.htm
Newly released data show that the Army and the Marine Corp, under pressure to increase their numbers, have sharply raised the number of recruits who have felony convictions.The information, released Monday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, shows that the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.
The bulk of the crimes involved were burglaries, other thefts, and drug offenses, but nine involved sex crimes and six involved manslaughter or vehicular homicide convictions. Several dozen Army and Marine recruits had aggravated assault or robbery convictions, including incidents involving weapons.
The use of felons to the fill the ranks comes as 2 people every day are dropped from the military for being gay under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" the ban on gays serving openly in the armed services.
In the 10 years that DADT has been in force more than 10,000 personnel have been discharged as a result of thed policy, including 800 with skills deemed 'mission critical,' such as pilots, combat engineers, and linguists.
The number of gay men and lesbians turned way by military recruiters is unknown.
A study conducted last year for SLDN concluded that the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians in the military were able to be open about their sexual orientation.
Legislation to repeal DADT is before Congress. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act has bipartisan support but is unlikely to get out of committee during this election year, but hearings could be held.
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bigred3002
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Please get your facts straight. The Army has lowered their recruiting standards. The Marines have not, and will not. They still meet their recruiting needs without having to resort to such things as letting in convicts. If anything during this war their standards have actually become even more strict. So like I said get your facts straight please.
- 3 years ago
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bigred3002
