What's Next?

Congratulations on your induction into the armed forces...

Let's see: it's common knowledge that the military has been lowering standards...and I've read reports saying recruiters have resorted to all sorts of questionable tactics in order to make the numbers slightly less dismal...

But "accepting" autistic kids? Geez:

The tawdry recruitment of Southeast Portlander Jared Guinther shouldn't require a very lengthy "investigation" by the Army. It's obvious that Guinther, who is autistic and considered disabled, isn't an appropriate candidate to serve as a cavalry scout. Serving in such a role would endanger himself and his fellow soldiers.

As The Oregonian's Michelle Roberts reported in a disturbing story Sunday, Army recruiters signed Guinther, an 18-year-old high school senior, to a four-year Army contract and steered him toward a military career as a scout.

When his parents found he was taking an enlistment test, they were startled. They contacted the recruiters with information about Jared's disability, from the special education classes he's taken to the menial job he got through a program for disabled workers. Their concerns, they said, were dismissed. His stepmother said a recruiter told her, "Well, Jared's an 18-year-old man. He doesn't need his mommy to make decisions for him."

This is, in a word, outrageous. The Army and members of the state's congressional delegation should swiftly declare it so. Jared should be released from his contract, his parents apologized to and the recruiters disciplined.

The Army said Monday it is still investigating the case and doctors have asked for more medical records. Nobody outside the recruiting office where Jared was persuaded to enlist thinks he should serve, especially as a scout in a war zone.

Of course, the case of Jared Guinther is about something much larger than a single Portland teenager. The United States is fighting a dangerous and increasingly unpopular war, military recruitment numbers are lagging, and recruiters are under severe pressure to bring in new soldiers. The military has increased its bonus payments to those who enlist or re-enlist, put more recruiters in the field, raised the maximum recruiting age and relaxed rules that would bar some recruits from signing up.

Some recruiters have gone farther by deliberately bending the rules, recruiting people who shouldn't qualify for military service. While it's too soon to say that Jared's recruiters did so, recruiters elsewhere clearly have. Last year, after evidence that recruiters in Colorado, Texas and elsewhere had broken rules by threatening recruits, forging documents or agreeing to overlook criminal behavior, the Army called a one-day recruiting moratorium to emphasize the need for ethical behavior by recruiters.

The Army is in a tough spot, but it makes its position worse by knowingly taking advantage of vulnerable people. Not only do unqualified recruits pose risks to the Army's own troops, but they undermine the public's perception of the military and its methods. And that is a shame.

This country needs a well-qualified, well-equipped and highly motivated military force. And through training, education, discipline and even dangerous duty, the military can offer a better life to many. It can give structure, purpose and a sense of honor to many whose lives lack those qualities. It's regrettable when the clarity of that message is overshadowed by the Army's own misconduct.

By acting promptly and firmly, the Army can undo at least some of the damage it did itself by recruiting Jared Guinther.

And, not that anyone should be surprised, but the chickenhawk, warblogging 101st Fighting Keyboarders and 82nd Chairbornes aren't exactly beating a path to recruiting offices. Maybe they're hoping puppies and kittens will take up the slack...