I spoke with an new army enlistee today, just arrived to Germany, 22 y.o.

[lebkuchen]

He said the recruiters had been after him for quite awhile, in Santa Cruz, CA. Finally, he decided to enlist after being offered a $7,000 bonus to be a combat engineer, whose job it would be to clear roads of IEDs, keeping them open for the convoys. He wants to use the bonus to buy a motorcycle. He also wants to use the GI bill to go to college.

He said that those enlisting as truck drivers were getting at least a $15,000 bonus.

He's supposed to go to Iraq in June. He's looking forward to it, as he wants to test out the skills he's been honing in training.

[BobRossi]

1. KaBoom! Oops, wrong wire. nt

[iamahaingttta]

2. A combat engineer?

Clearing roads of IEDs, keeping them open for convoys?

Unfortunately, that poor kid is not going to live very long.

[jbnow]

13. I wonder how many with that job

have come home from Iraq alive. Well unless they were badly injured first. I really do.

I don't think $7,000/month would be enough

[stevedeshazer]

3. What do you think about his decision?

I think he's nuts.

My dad was a combat engineer. There must be easier ways to get $7000.

[TheDebbieDee]

6. In this depressed economy?

I joined the military in Sep 1982 cause there was nothing going on with our economy. There weren't very many decent jobs, even for those with degrees.

Joining the military was the only way I could become somewhat independent and stop being a burden to my parents.

Of course, we weren't at war at the time........And compared to W., Ronald Reagan was nearly as scary a President.

[stevedeshazer]

10. It sounds like you agree with me

I just don't think $7k is worth it, even in this economy. And yeah, I know the economy is depressed.

Thanks for your service, by the way.

I got laid off in 1982 the economy was terrible.

[sandnsea]

14. I got outsourced in 1980

Learned the old loyalty to the company bullshit a long long time ago. $7,000 wouldn't have been worth it then and it still isn't.

[TheDebbieDee]

18. Oh, I respect the new enlistee's decision to enlist......

But he IS nuts to join up with W. as CommanderCuckooBananas as Commander-in-Chief!

Hell, W. makes Ronald Reagan look sane!

[MADem]

4. Poor bastard, he may be using that cash to upgrade his wheelchair

if he makes it out of Iraq.

If you see him again, tell him to buy some heavy duty toy radio controlled cars, he can use them to push cardboard and other trash out of the way that often covers those IEDs alongside the road.

No, I am not joking, wish I were...

[lebkuchen]

5. He sounded as if he'd be disappointed NOT to go to Iraq

W/out a deployment there, his training would have been for nothing.

You have to wonder: are they that naive?

We didn't talk politics other than for me to say that he may not be going to Iraq if public pressure continues to be applied.

[MADem]

7. Seriously, if you do see him, tell him to go to the exchange and buy

some toy cars. Get the high end ones. He might also want to get himself some kevlar drawers from that company in South America, that makes stuff for Hugo Chavez.

[MissWaverly]

8. when was the last time you saw a teenager watch the news

if it is not on Itunes, forget it.

[w8liftinglady]

20. my son was the same way...

these drill instructors and recruitors are experts in the workings of 19-year-old brains.

[MissWaverly]

22. It's an outrage to exploit the innocence and goodness of our kids

for a war that we now find was a front to create dummy defense contractors to swallow money
and provide no services and kickback the money to where???

[AwakeAtLast]

12. It won't be cash, and it won't be a lump sum

And they take taxes out of it. But they didn't tell him that before he signed. He'll be lucky to see half of that.

[lebkuchen]

19. They dd tell him he'd be getting weekends off

He's been here 11 days, and he spent this weekend washing humvees, in
-4C weather.

At least he has 120F Iraqi weather to look forward to in June.

[AwakeAtLast]

25. Yup, that's exaclty what my husband experienced

He has lost 20 lbs. since July.

[MidwestTransplant]

9. You have to figure that anybody who inlists now would assume they

will go to Iraq and thus would probably want to go if for no other reason than it is what they are expecting.

[Jamison]

11. I can see why some of these guys are enlisting.

Especially if they are poor. $7K could pay for 2 years of community college for him at least. The thing is that there aren't many economic opportunities for young people. There's Wal-Mart and Mickey D's that pay $5.15 an hour with no bennies, or there's the military who is offering a nice cash bonus. Personally, I porbably would choose the military too.

Let's just hope he stays safe and comes home in one piece.

[jbnow]

15. At other times I'd agree

The military can be good training and benefits, a fine choice.

But for 3 tours in Iraq (if you stay whole and alive to do them?) Even at 22..or 12...I'd know better then to think I was that invincible.

I hope he comes home safe and whole too, but I really wonder what the odds are at that position.

[Jamison]

17. As my great uncle used to say "It all depends on how lucky you are."

He was with the 101st Airborne in Europe in WW2. He was one of the few in his entire company to survive all the way from D-Day to Germany's surrender. He used to say his closest call with death was when they were out on a patrol & had about 6 other guys with him & they stumbled upon a hidden German MG-42 nest at close range. They were fired on, and he hit the ground as soon as he heard shots fired. One of the other guys who had already been hit was able to lob a grenade into the nest and take the Gerry's out, but my great uncle ended up being the only survivor.

Let's hope this guy is as lucky if he encounters trouble.

[WLKjr]

21. If I didnt have a job right now I would seriously consider the AF

Jobs are getting harder to find, I was unemployed for 3 months recently and no one wanted me. (I don't mean to complain, I got lucky. A 50 yr old uncle of mine has been looking for over 6 months now after loosing his job with the state of Ohio as a prison guard)

[MissMarple]

16. Well, I'm saying a prayer for his and all our soldiers' safety.

[jokerman93]

23. I wish him well

I wish him well and hope it's worth the chump change.

J

[Toots]

24. Talk about the dumbing down of America,, that fellow is actual proof

Took $7,000 bonus to walk out in front of the trucks to find bombs while a truck driver gets $15,000 bonus to sit in their truck and let some dofus like this fellow clear the way for them. Real smarts being shown here for sure....