Editorial: Cut back moral waivers

Editorial: Cut back moral waivers


One of the hallmarks of the Army as a society within a society is that soldiers agree to live by the stricter rules of conduct, appearance and personal choice that come with being a member of a special community.

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That is why the all-volunteer Army has been so selective about who joins. Unfortunately, in this time of war, it has proven harder to maintain those historic standards. There is no escaping the fact that many of today’s recruits would have been rejected in the past.

The statistics tell a disturbing tale: The number of recruits needing moral waivers to enter service is rising each year, from 4.6 percent of recruits in 2003 to 7.9 percent in 2006 and 11 percent through the first 11 months of this fiscal year. Moral waivers cover legal troubles ranging from traffic convictions to felonies. That’s right — more than 1,000 recruits came into the Army in 2006 with felonies on their records.

Gang problems are also on the rise. Recent reports by the FBI and the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command show that gang-related activity in the U.S. military, particularly the Army, is increasing. Since 2004, the FBI has identified gang members from Fort Hood to Fort Polk and elsewhere, and connected them to drug dealing, assaults, robberies, weapons offenses and a homicide. CID reports 61 suspected gang-related incidents last year, versus just 12 in 2003.

The Army cannot afford to drop its standards so low that it takes convicted criminals into the ranks, nor can it afford to lose soldiers and critical leadership time to sorting out gangland culture clashes in the ranks. Noncommissioned officers and commanders have enough challenges without having to police ex-convicts. family members shouldn’t have to tolerate them in their communities. Recruiters should not be allowed to enlist them.

It’s time for Army leaders to clamp down on moral waivers, even if it means having to work harder and spend more money to fill the ranks.


Rest of article: http://www.armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_editorial_moralwaivers_070910/