Gangs in the military.
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Pretty scary when their intent is to learn warfare for the streets back home instead of doing the honorable thing for your country.[:(] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by sarge_3ad
Pretty scary when their intent is to learn warfare for the streets back home instead of doing the honorable thing for your country.[:(]
+1. I hope that this trend ends soon [:(!].0 -
I wonder if the military has had a good effect on any of these bozos? Slim chance I guess, but maybe being exposed to real men of honor might wake a few of them up. In any case, more proof that the law abiding ones in our society must have the right to bear arms for the protection of themselves, families, and property. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Dak To 68
I wonder if the military has had a good effect on any of these bozos? Slim chance I guess, but maybe being exposed to real men of honor might wake a few of them up. In any case, more proof that the law abiding ones in our society must have the right to bear arms for the protection of themselves, families, and property.
BING[^]!0 -
Don't tell me that these recruiters don't know who these guys are when they sign them up, gang tats are usually pretty identifiable. But hey, anything to meet those enlistment goals, even if it means letting criminals and murderers wear the uniform. 0 -
I got this news from Military .com in my email. to answer one poster question, yes we got jail birds drafted and had them in Vietnam. Many of which were druggies and thugs who were more of a threat than usefull in a combat roll.
Military Accepting More Ex-Cons
Associated Press | February 14, 2007
WASHINGTON - More recruits with criminal records, including felony convictions, are being allowed to join the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, as the armed services cope with a dwindling pool of volunteers during wartime.
The military routinely grants waivers to take in recruits who have criminal records, medical problems or low aptitude scores that would otherwise disqualify them from service. Most are moral waivers, which include some felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic and drug offenses.
Defense Department statistics show that the number of Army and Marine recruits needing waivers for felonies and serious misdemeanors, including minor drug offenses, has grown since 2003. Some recruits may get more than one waiver.
The Army granted more than double the number of waivers for felonies and misdemeanors in 2006 than in 2003.
The number of felony waivers granted by the Army grew from 411 in 2003 to 901 in 2006, according to the Pentagon, or about one in 10 of the moral waivers approved that year. Other misdemeanors - from petty theft or writing a bad check to some assaults - jumped from about 2,700 to more than 6,000 in 2006, representing more than three-quarters of moral waivers granted by the Army.
Army and Defense Department officials defended the waiver program as a way to admit young people who had made a mistake but overcome past behavior.
Lawmakers and other observers said they were concerned that the struggle to fill military ranks in this time of war had caused standards to fall.
"Our armed forces are under incredible strain, and the only way that they can fill their recruiting quotas is by lowering their standards," said Rep. Marty Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat who has been working to get additional data from the Pentagon. "By lowering standards, we are endangering the rest of our armed forces and sending the wrong message to potential recruits across the country."
Army spokesman Paul Boyce said Tuesday he was concerned that the Pentagon data differed from Army numbers, but said that "anything that is considered a risk or a serious infraction of the law is given the highest level of review."
"Our goal is to make certain that we recruit quality young men and women who can keep America defended against its enemies," Boyce said.
The data was obtained through a federal information request and released by the California-based Michael D. Palm Center, a think tank that studies military issues.
"The fact that the military has allowed more than 100,000 people with such troubled pasts to join its ranks over the past three years illustrates the problem we're having meeting our military needs in this time of war," said Aaron Belkin, director of the center.
The military also does not have programs that help convicted felons adjust to military life, according to a new study commissioned by the center, Belkin said.
As the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have dragged on, the military also has relaxed some standards in order to meet recruitment demands. The Army, for example, increased its age limit for recruits from 35 to 42, and is accepting more people with lower scores on a standardized aptitude test.
The Pentagon said in its report that "the waiver process recognizes that some young people have made mistakes, have overcome their past behavior, and have clearly demonstrated the potential for being productive, law-abiding citizens and members of the military."
The military in its report divides moral waivers into six categories: felonies, serious and minor non-traffic offenses, serious and minor traffic offenses and drug offenses.
According to the Pentagon, nearly a quarter of military recruits in 2006 needed some type of waiver, up from 20 percent in 2003. Roughly 30,000 moral waivers were approved each year between 2003 and 2006.
About one in five Army recruits needed a waiver in 2006, up from 12.7 percent in 2003.
More than half of the Marine recruits needed a waiver in 2006, a bit higher than in 2003, and largely due to their more strict drug requirements.
About 18 percent of Navy recruits required a waiver, up slightly from 2003.
Just 8 percent of Air Force recruits had waivers, down a bit from 20030 -
I'd have to say, overall, most of the guys that I met that came from a gang background embraced the military and welcomed the opportunity to change their lifestyle. They substituted the comraderie of the military for the comfort of gang life.
The last intel brief I had on gang activity was leaning towards active duty gang members. The gangs were selecting members to join up and bring combat tactics back to the 'hood, sign other gang members on to base for illegal activities, traffic drugs on base for them, etc. This most prevelant in the Army at the time(1998) but I'm sure it has affected all branches by now.
The biggest problem we had, aside from local gangs, was with military dependents forming gangs. We lost one base commander when his teenage son was arrested for drug trafficking. The investigation later revealed that the son was one of the biggest drug dealers in town.
We were out cruising around one night when a car pulled up next to us and starting shouting their gang name and saying how they were going to F* us up. After they played bumper tag with us for a few more lights we decided to pull over and give them their chance. When they got out I saw my asst. flight chief's 15yr old son in the group. We grabbed him and threw him in our car and drove him back on base to his home. His father had a weekend long debriefing/deprogramming session with him and the kid seemed to turn out OK.0 -
quote:Originally posted by warriorsfan
Don't tell me that these recruiters don't know who these guys are when they sign them up, gang tats are usually pretty identifiable. But hey, anything to meet those enlistment goals, even if it means letting criminals and murderers wear the uniform.
We had "judicial draftees" back in the 70's, but but I doubt you would know anything about that.
I guess that was Bushes fault too.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dongizmo
quote:Originally posted by warriorsfan
Don't tell me that these recruiters don't know who these guys are when they sign them up, gang tats are usually pretty identifiable. But hey, anything to meet those enlistment goals, even if it means letting criminals and murderers wear the uniform.
We had "judicial draftees" back in the 70's, but but I doubt you would know anything about that.
I guess that was Bushes fault too.
+1 In the 60s there were plenty of judges giving the barracks or bars ultimatum.0 -
uhhh, isnt that what the irish did in the civil war? 0 -
Did you guys notice that the guy running across the street with an M-4 in one hand and a pistol gripped pump shotgun in the other? it is at the 4:04 point of the video 0 -
This activity is typical of what the racist blacks did during the NAM days. After about two years into the war, the services were overrun with gang members. A little research bears this out. For example, gang activity in Los Angeles fell off considerably at this time, for about two years, as it did in other large cities.
These punks were mostly black, not latino, but some militant latinos were indeed in service at the time, and actually sided with them to some extent, once they were off the streets. Gangs in America's largest cities at the time were controlled mostly by blacks, to my knowledge, with the Latinos more on the up and coming side. And, it was militant blacks who were the root cause of the majority of race riots in the military, at home and abroad. They were the ones believed to have done most of the frqagging to their comrades in the NAM, while their Bros, like the radicals in the Nation of Islam, for one, were doing the same on the streets to innocent civilians.
The cause for the rise in violence throughout America from 1968 through 1975, is, no doubt, due to some extent, the military training these worms received during their typical two year tour, before being turned loose on society. Most of them had their enlistments cut to about eighteen months, (just enough time for training a recruit, getting a NAM tour out of them, and letting them out on their return to CONUS). This to save the money it would cost to keep them in the U.S. for another six months.
What we see today, as in the video, is that Latinos are a much more dominant factor in gang violence today, and therefore a bigger threat to society. It seems that this, too, is a sign of the times, and it will probably get worse before it gets better.0 -
Just brought back a memory from 1967- when I heard a drill instructor demand of a trainee- "WHO ever told you you could be a soldier?!?!" and the youngster replied "The judge, drill SGT!"[:p] (By the way, Drill Sgts are NOT supposed to crack up and laugh out loud) 0
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