Call their bluff

[Jo Sul]

I say we sign them up and call their bluff. If they want to go to Iraq then send them there.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/22/raging.grannies.ap/index.html

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- A group of anti-war senior citizens calling themselves the "Tucson Raging Grannies" say they want to enlist in the U.S. Army and go to Iraq so that their children and grandchildren can come home.

Five members of the group -- which is associated with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom -- are due in court Monday to face trespassing charges after trying to enlist at a military recruitment center last week.

The group has protested every week for the last three years outside the recruitment center.

"We went in asking to be sent to Iraq so our kids and grandchildren can be sent home, but rather than listening to us, they called the police," said 74-year-old Betty Schroeder. "It was their place to tell us the qualifications, but they wouldn't even speak to us. They should've said, `You're too old."'

Schroeder said her group may approach the Pentagon to see if they could be sent to Iraq.

Nancy Hutchinson, spokeswoman at the Army recruiting headquarters in Phoenix which oversees Tucson's recruiters, said people who disagree with the war should be contacting their legislators instead of bothering recruiters.

"They need to direct their frustrations at people who have the power to change things," Hutchinson said. "Recruiters don't make policy and they can't change policy. They have a job to do and they are following orders."

Schroeder said she hopes the trespassing charges will be dropped and an apology given to the group from the Tucson Police Department and from the recruiters.

"This was not a performance, a joke or civil disobedience," she said. "This was an enlistment attempt."

[37F5V]

Stay home Grannie.... We like what we do...

[Jo Sul]

The recruiters might be accepting them soon . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/22/army.recruiting.reut/index.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Faced with major recruiting problems sparked by troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has asked Congress to raise the maximum age for U.S. military enlistees from 35 to 42 years old.

The request, sent to lawmakers this week, would apply to all active duty branches of the military services, said Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, Friday. But it is aimed chiefly at the active duty Army, which has fallen far short of recruiting goals this year, by adding millions of potential enlistees.

The Army has provided most of the 140,000 U.S. ground troops in Iraq and has also relied heavily on part-time soldiers from the National Guard and Reserve for year-long deployments there.

Krenke said the active duty Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, which are meeting their recruiting goals, were unlikely to change their current policy of declining to accept recruits older than 35.

The new proposal would not change the limit of 39 years old for those with previous military service who seek to enlist in the Army Reserves and National Guard.

The Army National Guard, struggling more than any other part of the U.S. military to sign up new troops amid the Iraq war, missed its ninth straight monthly recruiting goal in June.

The regular Army met its recruiting goal this month, but is still 14 percent behind its year-to-date recruiting target and is in danger of missing an annual recruiting goal for the first time since 1999. The Army Reserve is 21 percent behind its year-to-date goal and also in danger of falling short for the year.

[Jo Sul]

Already doing it for OCS.

http://news.usti.net/home/news/cn/?/usa.misc/1/wed/br/Uus-army.RLGe_Fu9.html

WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army, facing recruiting problems, is loosening requirements for people seeking to be junior officers, the Baltimore Sun reported Thursday.

The Sun said it had obtained a May 25 memo sent to Army division commanders outlining ways to entice up to 600 people to sign up for Officer Candidate School. The Army is looking to get half of the new officers from its current enlisted personnel and the rest from new recruits, the newspaper said.

To meet those goals, the Army is widening its age limit for OCS applicants from 18 to 42 years old and may waive minor criminal offense, the Sun said. Current Army rules said OCS applicants should not turn 29 before entering training.

The source memo claimed the National Guard and Reserve, which are also having overall recruitment problems, would institute similar programs.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty told the Sun the recruiting problems combined with an intention to increase the size of the Army by some 30,000 troops as a reason the service is seeking additional officers.

[Doc]

Five members of the group -- which is associated with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom...

Not one word of thanks for freeing millions of oppressed women in the Middle East.

Doc

[The Reaper]

Ruck up or shut up.

Wonder if they want to live like the Taliban women?

TR

[Radar Rider]

I find it disturbing that Recruiter Stations are attacked or are selected as protest sites. Yeah, I understand that in many places they are the face of the military, but crap!, they are not makers of policy. Duuhhhh! Go see your damn Representative if you have something to protest. :mad:

[lrd]

The group has protested every week for the last three years outside the recruitment center.
...
"This was not a performance, a joke or civil disobedience," she said. "This was an enlistment attempt."
It's hard to see this as an enlistment attempt when they've been protesting outside the recruitment center every week for the last three years.

I can't get the thought of yapping poodles out of my head.

[EX-Gold Falcon]

Threaten to withhold their Depends.....


T.