<p>D just received a call from an Army recruiter. Since she was still in bed, I took the call. Very polite young man who wanted me to give D the message “good luck in the upcoming school year”.<br>
I don’t know why I’m suprised by this call, but I am. And saddened. I have no anger toward the recruiting effort and I have no fear of my daughter being recruited. She has other, better options. This is not true for thousands of kids though and it makes me sad that our country is in this position.
I can’t imagine that the recuriters have much success in our neighborhood though. Since we are on the Left Coast (actually I think Santa Cruz is a little island just left of the Left Coast), I’d guess that even the kids with few options would decline the offer. Why join the army when you can live on the streets?<br>
Anyway, it’s very scary to comtemplate a draft, but I have a really bad feeling that it’s coming.</p>
<p>… So you’re fearing a draft because the recruiting officer called to wish your daughter good luck in the upcoming school year?</p>
<p>To my knowledge, recruitment efforts work like that. Even after the student says no, the calls will continue to come. Part of their success as a recruitment officer is the numbers, so every student they get helps them. They’ve probably learned that a call at just the right time might sway a student, and the continued attention is usually pretty gratifying to some people, particularly if they’ve been worrying about how none of the colleges are talking to them, or how to pay for college.</p>
<p>I talked to my recruiter at school seriously about joining the Army. We went over prospective MOs, considered when I could take the BCT, talked about options after the tour of duty, all that stuff. A couple of months later I decided the Army was not for me and moved on to the university, thanking my recruiter for all of his help and wishing him luck with his work. When I came back for winter break – mind you, this is a FULL YEAR after I declined – I received a call from the recruitment officer. He wanted to know how it was going, wished me luck in the rest of the term, and told me the army would still be there if I had changed my mind.</p>
<p>With that kind of persistance, I’m sure they get a few late waverers.</p>
<p>The Navy kept calling me. I finally gave up and told them that I couldn’t swim (really, I can’t - ear infections). They haven’t called since.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Aren’t a lot of schools like this too? One of my friends kept on getting calls from this college. One day they called with a survey. They asked if first she was still considering applying, she told them she really was never interested. The lady hung up and she never heard from them again :)</p>
<p>Now that the word is out that very few people ever get the largest bonuses…especially the college money. and the stories of people having a hard time leaving even after their time is up…I expect it will get harder.</p>
<p>I’m 20 years old now (and male, which I would guess makes for more calls) and recently changed telephone numbers, so the amount of phone calls have died down. However for a while I was getting those phone calls on at least a weekly basis.</p>
<p>Actually now I’m wondering, do guys get more phone calls then girls do. In my case (as with my friends) most of the girls did not get contact what-so-ever, and all of the other guys I hang out with got called constantly.</p>
<p>Also Celebrian25,
Tulane was like that. They contacted so many times that I eventually gave in and applied. Truth be told, as annoying as they were, the more and more I read about the school, the more I actually liked it. Had it cost less money to go there (they gave me a half-ride, and it was still absurdly expensive) I might have well accepted.</p>