Once upon a time, I was tagged by the Department of the Army for recruiting duty. My commander, who wasn't terribly impressed with me as a soldier, told the Department of the Army I wasn't recruiting material and got me out of it. I didn't realize it at the time, but he did me an enormous favor. Just how big of a favor did my commander do me? Check this out:
Five-hundred miles away in Houston, the suicides of four Army recruiters from a single battalion have focused lawmakers and veterans advocates on the enormous stress endured by soldiers tasked with refilling the ranks of the all-volunteer military during wartime.
Damn. The worst part is that this isn't an isolated incident. To say merely that Army recruiters everywhere have it rough is to understate the problem.
In interviews with the Houston Chronicle, current and former recruiters and their relatives from 10 of the Army’s 38 recruiting battalions detailed their own experiences in a job long considered one of the military’s toughest. They said the exhausting hours, degrading treatment and toxic command climate reported in Houston were not isolated incidents, but deep-rooted, widespread problems that have affected recruiters across the country for years.
Army recruiting is breaking up families, putting soldiers on antidepressant meds, giving them PTSD at least as bad as going to Iraq, and driving them off the deep end. I knew recruiting sucked, but I had no idea just how bad.
Of course, the commanding general isn't getting the full picture:
Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley of U.S. Army Accessions Command said soldiers have a right to complain, but in visits to recruiting stations, he has encountered a very positive, sensitive command climate.
Well, of course. He's the goddamned general. He shows up at a unit, and it's time for the dog and pony show. The chances he's going to detect an actual problem that he might want to do something about is approximately nil. I don't know how you break the traditional chain of command stone wall, but I am willing to bet showing up in uniform, stars ablazin', isn't it.
So what is the USAREC's solution? Take everybody offline, sit them down in a classroom, and give the suicide prevention talk. Again. I can see the eyes glazing over now. Oh, and to make sure the civilian public isn't too outraged over this, they're instituting shorter working hours. You still have to make mission, and your NCOER will still indicate that you are an America-hating scumbag if you don't, but you'll be spending less time in the office doing it.