Military recruiters face scrutiny

Military recruiters face scrutiny
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 29, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Defense Department has announced it will closely monitor military recruiters and their commanders in light of two investigations--one by the government and the other by The Associated Press--that found increased recruiter misconduct.

"Through this monitoring we are going to evaluate a command's ability to control, or eliminate, misconduct by military recruiters as well as the actions taken by commands towards those recruiters found to have violated the code of conduct with potential recruits," said Defense Department spokesman Maj. Sean Upton.

Upton said the monitoring will last five to 10 months and that once the department has enough data and can confirm its integrity, officials will consider changes in policy.

Last week the AP reported that one out of every 200 frontline military recruiters--the ones who deal directly with young people--were disciplined for sexual misconduct in 2005. The cases ranged from fraternization to forcible rape.

Earlier, the Government Accountability Office released a report that showed overall wrongdoing by military recruiters increased from about 400 cases in 2004 to 630 cases in 2005.