Enlisted Strength Declines

Drug use, weight problems and parenthood have been taking their toll on the military in the past three years since the war on terror began, according to newly released Pentagon data. Documents released to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act indicate the number of enlisted personnel leaving the military each year has increased from 8.7 percent in 2002 to 10.5 percent last year. Enlisted losses — including people whose enlistments had expired — increased from 118,206 in 2002 to more than 137,465 last year, while officer losses have increased from 5,619 in 2002 to more than 7,500 last year.The subset of those leaving before their term was up, for reasons ranging from disability to drug abuse, increased from 58,214 in 2002 to 60,406 last year among enlisted personnel and from 1,011 in 2002 to 1,280 for officers. “Service members leave the military for a variety of reasons,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke. “This is an all-volunteer military, which is dedicated to defending its country. We appreciate their service and respect their reasons for leaving the service.” Krenke said the military met and in some cases exceeded its retention goals this year. None of the 1.4 million soldiers, sailors and Marines on active duty today is allowed to simply quit the military, but they can be kicked out, or in certain cases receive special discharges. The reasons for leaving the service differ in each branch, though general misconduct — a term which can mean anything from petty theft to brawling with colleagues — has consistently been the most common explanation. Pentagon data going back 10 years shows that service losses last year are still below overall levels in the mid-90s, when the Defense Department struggled with both retention and recruiting. But in recent years, some categories reached 10-year highs. Pregnancy and parenthood, for example, have steadily increased as a reason for personnel losses, especially in the Army, where last year 4,238 soldiers were discharged from the Army for pregnancy and parenthood, up from 2,862 in 2002 and 2,565 in 1996. This reflects what military officials say is a baby boom, especially at bases with high deployments. Pregnancy used to mean an automatic discharge; these days, it’s an option but not a requirement. Even so, increased numbers of service members are asking to get out because they have children. “These days military parents are finding it very complicated to serve, because a lot of people are being deployed, many are being deployed multiple times, and these deployments have proved to be unpredictable in length and frequency,” said Shelley M. MacDermid, director of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. MacDermid said she has even heard of instances where soldiers “use pregnancy as a way to get out of a situation they don’t like.” Drug use is also an increasing reason soldiers are being discharged from the Army, up 40 percent since 2002; last year 1986 soldiers were kicked out of the Army for using for using marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and other illegal drugs. By contrast, soldiers thrown out for alcohol dropped from 251 in 2002 to 164 last year. Rod Powers, a retired Air Force sergeant who writes advice an advice column on the Web about military service and has written books on the subject, said the drug use discharges probably reflect more sophisticated drug testing policies in all military branches. “The military is getting smarter about drug testing, with better science and more random tests,” he said. “I hear from a lot of young recruits thinking they can beat a urinalysis, but I tell them it’s not so easy.” Powers said the reduction in alcohol-related discharges is likely because most troops are not allowed to drink while they are deployed because they are posted in Muslim countries, and with longer and more frequent deployments there are simply fewer opportunities to imbibe. Another issue that is prompting increased discharges is a failure to meet weight standards. The Army, which has the most stringent weight standards of all the military branches, kicked out more than 3,285 soldiers last year because they were too heavy.