Don't recruit here!

[ShortTemperHatesStupidity]

The Army has goals for enlistment that I'm pretty sure they're not reaching. They're desperate and will go anywhere and take anyone...

That being said, it's not appropriate to stand around in another place of business to conduct theirs...

[MadRocketScientist]

FYI
ASVAB - Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

I took it, aced it, got recruited into the Navy. Not because I was excited about my future with the Navy, but because I was broke and hungry and no prospects. Which is why a lot of people join the service.

[NightAngel]

Since my Aunt is career military I felt the old family pressure to join. I went down, talked to the recruiter. They all knew my Aunt- between that and my CAP records they were ecstatic to be getting ahold of me.

Then they freaked me out. At one of my sessions before the ASVAB some guy with some "special" unit/brach/whatever came in to observe me and asked me a lot of questions but didn't want to answer any of mine. I was starting to feel a little La Femme Nikita or maybe just paranoid. The day of the ASVAB I walked in the door, took one look at that guy (yes, he was there) and walked right back out.

They tried for over a year to get me back in for the ASVAB. I changed my phone number and everything.

[Tria]

Edit: Correction - the schools were trying to keep the recruiters out but apparently they will not get certain moneys if they don't allow them access. As cash-strapped as my local schools constantly are, that's a major concern.

Sadly, this is a side effect of "No Child Left Behind".

[Blueberry]

Geez, guys, think. We're in a shootin' war here and most teenagers aren't that dumb. They know that if they sign their lives away for a hitch in the Army, they're most likely going to end up in a place with a lot of sun, sand and extremely hostile natives. :

Oh come on!! It's just like going to the beach!!
Except that the sharks have guns....and are yelling at you in a language you don't understand...

[Jinxy]

Well that Army national Guard around here is giving bonuses for recruiting.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world...ecruiting.html

This actually makes it profitable for them to go out and annoy the piss out of people.

Jinxy

[technical.angel]

I must have scored super army star status because recruiters from all the branches bothered me for months.

Same here. It took one conversation from my dad who took the phone away from me during a call, and they quit calling.

Of course, before that, my dad told my brother and I that he'd break our legs for us if we even thought of joining.

Same thing his dad told him.

[ArenaBoy]

I just recently got out of high school so I understand the pushiness of recruiters. I used to get calls of all kinds from every branch but I got rid of them creatively. When I lived with my parents they had caller ID so as soon as I recognized the number I answered the phone in Japanese. Never heard from them again.

[wagegoth]

ASVAB. I must have scored super army star status because recruiters from all the branches bothered me for months.

Same thing. I'm female, and it was in the 70s, so I must have scored really well. Every branch, even the Coast Guard, sent me mail. At least, back then, they couldn't email me, and I moved right after graduating so they didn't have my phone number.

[Namrepus221]

I used to get phone calls every month from recruiters.

I finally told them that I was listed as disabled (Which I technically am. God bless ADD) and they were wasting their time by calling someone that can't serve in any capacity in the military.

I really can't stand recruiters that lie to fill their quota's. (I've been lied to by a recruiter before as well)
News story btw: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2626032&page=1

[Geek King]

The Army has goals for enlistment that I'm pretty sure they're not reaching. They're desperate and will go anywhere and take anyone...

Actually, they have been reaching goals, which is surprising some people considering we have a war going on. I did a little looking on Ask.com (Army recruitment goals for the last 3 years), and it seems they met active-duty goals for 2004 and 2005, and were lagging a bit for goals in 2006 because they upped the goals a little too far in the summer of 2005.

That said, I have no sympathy for recruiters that break the rules, or worse, outright lie and falsify records. The recruiters I have dealt with were, by and large, decent people. It is a shame that, like in so many other things, some bad apples make the whole lot look bad. They should face the full consequences of military Justice.

[Bluenomi]

Geez, the US military is shocking! All we Aussie get are some ads on TV making the army look like some sort of adventure training with good pay. The Navy did have a recuritment tent at the footy on the weekend but they sponser the team and waited for people to approach them.

If they ever tried to get me by harrassing me on the street I'd give them an earful.

[AFpheonix]

I remember taking the ASVABs. The guy administering it was clipping his fingernails during the test and allowing fingernail bits to fly all over the place. I got a few calls, but nothing exciting.

I suppose one could always try invoking the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" thing to get out of getting recruited

[Andara Bledin]

I took the ASVABs back in '85. I got tons of junk recruitment mail from all branches but only one phone call from some guy at West Point, and that was at 6 am on a Saturday.

I don't just give "no" for an answer. If I get called back a second time, I let them know a third call will be responded to with a suit for harassment. This goes for everybody.

I'm so completely non-conformist that the military would be about the worst fit possible for me.

^-.-^

[Primer]

I tried to join the Navy in '78. I scored extremely high on the ASVAB, but I was 10 lbs over their weight limit, and they did not want to try to run it off me in Basic Training. In '84 when I was on the Dean's List at college, they started phoning me every week. I told them that they didn't want me when I tried to join, there was no way they were gonna get me after.