Military Recruiting, Retention, etc.

Great article on the military at Townhall here which refutes the Five Biggest Myths about the US Armed Forces. I have a bit of a bias here; I'm a veteran who proudly served and felt like I got a great deal (the military got me my college education) and I have a brother-in-law currently serving active Army.

In short, recruiting is good (all services have hit their targets except the Army in 2005, and the Army actually RAISED their target for that year by 7,000 -- they would have achieved it otherwise). The combat branch slots are getting filled, although the force structure is changing to meet new requirements, like bomb disposal and the creation of additional combat brigades; the recruits are of high quality (over 93% have HS diplomas, compared to approx. 75% of their peers), the highest proportion of casualties are actually Caucasian (74%), and female soldiers are NOT serving in combat capacities -- although in this type of conflict, they may come under fire.

There has been some misleading articles about junior officers leaving in droves recently, particularly West Pointers. But the facts are that just under 10% were leaving BEFORE 9/11, the number decreased slightly afterward, and while it is trending back up, still hasn't reached the pre-attack levels -- after 3 years of conflict and (most likely) multiple deployments by said individuals. Hardly reason to panic about the All-Volunteer force.