The Government Accountability Office announced today that allegations of wrongdoing by military recruiters increased by 50% in the period from 2004 to 2005, and that criminal violations such as falsifying documents and sexual harrassment more than doubled during the same period. (An educated guess says that sexual assault complaints significantly increased, also.) The Department of Defense has no oversight system, so it is impossible to know the full extent of these violations.
“Determined to find ways to succeed in a challenging recruiting environment, some recruiters reportedly have resorted to overly aggressive tactics, such as coercion and harassment,” the report said. Unlike the Marine Corps, the Army, Navy and Air Force measure recruiter performance by the number of recruits who enlist and report to basic training, as opposed to the number who complete basic training.
