AS THE Bush administration makes up its mind about whether to reduce or maintain US troop levels in Iraq, it should pay close heed to a report last week on the declining quality of Army recruits. Since the start of the Iraq war almost five years ago, the percentage of recruits who have graduated from high school has dropped annually. It is now down to 71 percent, well below the 90 percent level the military would like to maintain.
One sign that the Army is getting the message is a proposal unveiled last week to reduce battlefield tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan from 15 months to 12 months beginning in August. Shorter deployments and a clear commitment to turning more responsibility for Iraq's security over to the Iraqi government are two important steps in maintaining the quality of the service.
It is an exaggeration to say the Iraq war is killing the volunteer Army. But the war is turning it into a different force from the one that was built up painstakingly after the draft ended in the early 1970s. One architect of this new army, Colin Powell, tried to shield its professionalism and morale from the corrosive effects of a Vietnam-style conflict by laying down rules for military engagements. These rules called for a clear exit strategy, as well as enough power to overwhelm potential enemies. Yet President Bush ignored the rules in starting what has become a counterinsurgency war of occupation.
Now the Army is paying a price for the administration's misguided decisions, as fewer and fewer young people with solid educational backgrounds are willing to enlist. The Army itself has long used a high school degree as a marker because recruits who have one are much more likely to complete their term of service successfully. Half of all soldiers without such degrees do not complete their term of enlistment, which forces the service to do more recruiting and training.
Last week's report by the Massachusetts-based nonprofit National Priorities Project also found a 25 percent drop since 2004 in the proportion of "high quality" recruits, which the Army defines as those who have at least a high school diploma and score in the top half of the military's qualification test. And in November, the Globe reported that during the preceding month 12.3 percent of the Army's recruits needed waivers because they have records, including felony convictions.
In response, the Army said all such "moral waivers" require the approval of at least a lieutenant colonel. Last week, Army spokesman Douglas Smith responded to the high school graduation data by saying, "Every soldier that we put in the Army is qualified. We don't put unqualified people in the Army, but it's something we're watching." Improving the quality of the Army should be very much on Bush's mind as he contemplates withdrawals of US troops from Iraq.
