A key event prompting the Army to order a "values stand down," to be observed on May 20, took place in Houston in late April, when a recruiter, Sgt. Thomas Kelt, threatened to have a prospect arrested if he resisted recruiting efforts. Kelt left a voice mail message on the cell phone of Christopher Monarch, 20, of Spring, Texas, ordering him to show up for an appointment -- under the false pretense that Monarch would be violating the law if he didn't. Here's a transcript of the message (available as an audio file, here):Hmmmm. At any rate they have apparently had to suspend enlistment efforts for a month in order to address this problem. So far the army is using the old "a few bad apples" storyline, so we'll have to see what happens.
"Hey Chris, this is Sgt. Kelt at the Army, man. I think we got disconnected... I know you were on your cell probably, and you just had bad reception or something -- I know you didn't hang up on me. Anyway, by federal law you've got an appointment with me at two o'clock this afternoon at Greenpoint mall, OK? That's the Greenpoint mall, Army recruitment station at two o'clock. Fail to appear, and, uh, we'll have a warrant. OK? So give me a call back."
Monarch said he didn't receive the message until after the designated time -- and that he hadn't made such an appointment, nor had he been interested in joining the military. "I was scared," Monarch said, regarding the message. When he called Kelt the next day to clear up the matter, Kelt explained that threatening to issue an arrest warrant was a "marketing technique."
But of course part of the problem with the military right now is that they are being asked to do too much while the general public is being asked to do nothing. The Bush Administration is determined to carry out it's foreign policy on the cheap, which means there is a lack of funds for supporting the troops "for real," as some say.
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