April 29th, 2005 5:20 pm
How Far Will The Army Go?

How far will U.S. Army recruiters go to bring young men and women into their ranks? An Arvada West High School senior recently decided to find out. The following is CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger's report.

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ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) -- Last month the U.S. Army failed to meet its goal of 6,800 new troops.

Aware of this trend, David McSwane, a local high school student, decided he wanted to find out to what extent some recruiters would go to sign up soldiers who were not up to grade.

McSwane, 17, is actually just the kind of teenager the military would like. He's a high school journalist and honor student at Arvada West High School. But McSwane decided he wanted to see "how far the Army would go during a war to get one more solider."

McSwane contacted his local army recruiting office in Golden with a scenario he created. He told a recruiter that he was a dropout and didn't have a high school diploma.

"No problem," the recruiter explained. He suggested that McSwane create a fake diploma from a non-existent school.

McSwane recorded the recruiter saying that on the phone.

"It can be like Faith Hill Baptist School or something -- whatever you choose," the recruiter said.

As instructed, McSwane went on the computer to a Web site and for $200 arranged to have a phony diploma created that certified him as a graduate of Faith Hill Baptist High School, the very name the recruiter suggested. It came complete with a fake grade transcript.

"What was your reaction to them encouraging you to get a phony diploma?" CBS4's Rick Sallinger asked.

"I was shocked," McSwane said. "I'm sitting there looking at a poster that says 'Integrity, Honor, Respect' and he is telling me to lie."

McSwane also pretended he had a drug problem when he spoke with the recruiter.

The Army does not accept enlistees with drug problems.

"I have a problem with drugs," McSwane said, referring to the conversation he had with the recruiter. "I can't kick the habit ... just marijuana."

"[The recruiter] said 'Not a problem,' just take this detox ... he said he would pay half of it ... told me where to go."

Drug testers CBS4 contacted insist it doesn't work, but the recruiter claimed in another recorded phone conversation that taking "detoxification capsules and liquid" would help McSwane pass the required test.

"The two times I had the guys use it, it has worked both times," the recruiter said in the recorded conversation. "We didn't have to worry about anything."

Then the original recruiter was transferred and another recruiter, Sgt. Tim Pickel, picked up the ball.

A friend of McSwane shot videotape as Pickel drove McSwane to a store where he purchased the so-called detox kit.

CBS4 then went to the Army recruiting office and confronted Sgt. Pickel. CBS4 played him a conversation McSwane had with Pickel on the phone. The transcript of that conversation follows:

Pickel: When you said about the one problem that you had, what does it consist of?
McSwane: "Marijuana."
Pickel: Oh, OK so nothing major?
McSwane: Yeah, he said he would take me down to get that stuff, I mean I have no idea what it is, so you would have to show me. Is that a problem?
Pickel: No, not at all.

Pickel quickly referred CBS4 to his superiors.

CBS4 then played the tapes and showed the video to Lt. Col. Jeffrey Brodeur, who heads army recruiting for the region.

"Let me sum up all of this with one word: unacceptable, completely unacceptable," Brodeur said.

Hearing recruiters talking about phony diplomas and ways to beat drug tests left Brodeur more than a little disturbed.

"Let me tell you something sir, I'm a soldier and have been a soldier for 20 years," Brodeur said. "This violates trust, it violates integrity, it violates honor and it violates duty."

The army says it is conducting a full investigation. Brodeur said there is no pressure or punishment for recruiters if quotas are not met. They are, however, rewarded when their goals are surpassed.

 

That's actually three words.


Let me just say that recruiters are like salesmen. The more people they put through, the more their bonus is. Just because a couple of recruiters are not showing the proper ethics doesn't mean "the Army" (the entire US Army) will go to these lengths to get recruits. Their are bad apples in any profession, including the Army.

11 Bravo

 

I'm on recruiting detail myself. Believe me, there are not many of us that pull crap like that. Every recruiter out here draws the line somewhere, some go way too far. My career is way too important to do anything that stupid just to have a successful 3 year tour out of my planned 20+.



By the way:

total

If there was no pressure, that recruiter would have told the applicant to get lost. No one likes working 70 hours a week, some people will cheat to get by. I'm the top recruiter in my company, and I have to BS my planning guide to make it look like I work Saturdays. Next time you see a recruiter walking around town, ask him if he would rather be in Iraq, you might be surprised at his/her answer.


P.S. 11B roX

 

Well, its not fair to say HOW FAR THE "ARMY" do get the recruits...
not everyone is like that recruiter, willing to sacrafice integrity to get a new kid into army.

i'm in army and i dont like some recruiter myself. Recruiting job is very tough job.

 

He should have held out for Hookers, now THAT would have been funny.

 

Yet another instance of the pressure of recruiter duty driving a man beyonds the limits of acceptability. In my seven years of enlisted service, I have only met one man who said that recruiter duty had a beneficial effect on his life. All the others found it demeaning and ridiculously difficult. It is also been my understanding that the pressure on recruiters is job oriented. I have been told, though I don't know myself, that a 79R (a soldier whose only job is to recruit) can face non-judicial punishment and loss of advancement potential through failure to make quota.

I will never forget my recruiter's happiness the month I was recruited. That month, he made quota on 'Alpha' recruits, that is, recruits in the high skills jobs that almost never get filled.

Because of the horror stories I have heard from colleagues who were detailed to recruiter duty at one time or another, despite the few who make the news by questionable or illegal recruiting methods, I have some sympathy for recruiters. In a job market with great potential, hwo can a man be expected to convince young aspiring teens to give up their freedom and head to Iraq to help secure our freedom with a war that the teens probably disagree with?

 

i was 11B and it did rock, then i broke my ankle and was reclassed into a 42A.

 

Pretty messed up. I remember last year, my brother was over in Iraq and all of a sudden I get a call. Answer it guys like "hi this is sgt. whatever" i was like "OMG!!!!!!!!! What's wrong? Did something happen??" He's like "No, I am calling to see if you'd be interested in joining the Armed Forces." I have to say that was the worst, my heart completely dropped. I go "Sir, you just gave me the biggest heart attack of my life. My brother is over in Iraq right now... how did you get my mobile number?" After being like ahmm ahmmm, he goes "we have a service that gave us your number". He felt like so much crap that let's just say.. he never called me again.
I just about ready to kill him. I had never wanted to be in the Armed forces and even though the recruiter in High School was after me... This phone call above happened and i was already 6 yrs out of high school!

 

Hey, a some guys were trying to pick me up the other day at the mall. I know I look young .

 

my 19 year old niece just married an 18 year old dipshit. He's leaving for the Army in a month or two and he's convinced that he will make $8,000 a month as an E2.

I tried to tell him otherwise, but I couldn't convince him. Any guesses on where he got this idea?