Yo Hog:
Thought you and your son might be interested.
02/13/2005 15:11:14 EST Sasa Kralj/AP Photo
Marines Face Tougher Recruiting Questions
By DON BABWIN
Associated Press Writer
ALGONQUIN, Ill. - On a recruiting visit to a school in this Chicago suburb, Marine Staff Sgt. Jody Van Doorenmaalen asked a sophomore what popped into his parents' heads when they thought about him joining the Marines.
"The only thing they think (is) I'm going to go to war and die," 16-year-old Nick Ambroziak replied.
The exchange illustrates the difficulty these days for recruiters like Van Doorenmaalen as they visit high schools, community colleges and shopping malls trying to sell the Marine Corps to young people while the country is at war in Iraq.
Earlier this month, the Marine Corps announced it had fallen short of its monthly recruiting goal in January for the first time in nearly a decade. While the Marines say they remain on track to meet their recruiting target for the year, they also acknowledge their task is harder because of the war and its mounting death toll from roadside bombings, helicopter crashes and suicide attacks.
"I'd say it has made it more challenging on a number of fronts," said Capt. Timothy O'Rourke, executive officer of the Marine Recruiting Station Chicago.
One of the first students to stop at his information table in the cafeteria at Algonquin's Harry D. Jacobs High School was Jeff Gold, an 18-year-old senior.
With his military-style haircut and dream of becoming a police officer, Gold would seem the ideal candidate. But Gold is pretty sure what would happen if he did join.
"I probably will get deployed," he said after talking to Van Doorenmaalen. "And I'll probably die."
Among the biggest obstacles today between recruiters like Van Doorenmaalen and recruits are parents. When the country wasn't at war, parents often stayed in the background while their sons or daughters decided whether to enlist, but today they pepper recruiters with questions and concerns.
"Recruiters are spending a lot of time going to parents' houses making sure they clearly understand the responsibilities their son or daughter will face as a Marine," O'Rourke said.
Recruiters also are butting up against research that shows young people today are more tied to their parents than young people in years past.
"They seek more guidance and counsel from their parents than other generations," said Maj. Dave Greismer, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command. And it's not just the parents of teenagers who have not yet turned 18, whose permission is needed for their sons and daughters to enlist, he said. Those 18 and older also seem to be looking to their parents for advice more than ever before.
It doesn't help that some parents, like Nick Ambroziak's, are concerned about this particular war and the way the military is handling it.
"I am proud that he would want to do his patriotic duty ... but we are over there to provide a democratic system of government to people that don't seem to appreciate it," said Victor Ambroziak, Nick's father. "They are attacking guys over there who are sent there to protect them."
Lisa Ambroziak knows her son has thought about the Marines for years, but she worries when she reads about soldiers having to buy their own bulletproof vests and other gear.
"It concerns me that we are spending billions of dollars and these guys are picking up scrap metal for whatever," she said.
At the high school, Van Doorenmaalen focuses on the challenge the students would face if they enlist.
"If you can't handle getting yelled at, screamed at," he told some students, laying out the demands that will be placed on them. "I'll tell you right now, the Marine Corps is not for everybody."
"If they say the biggest reason they want to be a Marine is for money for education or a technical skill, we believe that is the wrong reason," said Van Doorenmaalen. "We have all that, (but) we are more looking for if they want to serve their country than have that money for education."
The Marine Corps expects to continue attracting recruits because people considering the Marines won't be discouraged by what they see on the news. "People that want to be Marines, they want to do it regardless of the world situation," O'Rourke said.
JonR
