GAO finds increase in wrongdoing by military recruiters

As the military struggled to attract new troops to fill its billets, instances of wrongdoing by recruiters skyrocketed between fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2005, Government Accountability Office investigators concluded in a report released Monday.

Ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with low U.S. unemployment rates, have made lining up new enlistments a challenging duty, compelling some recruiters to employ illegal or unethical tactics to meet their quotas.

"Some recruiters, reportedly, have resorted to overly aggressive tactics, which can adversely affect [the Defense Department's] ability to recruit and erode public confidence in the recruiting process," GAO said.

Cases of wrongdoing vary widely, ranging from paperwork errors to serious allegations, such as sexual harassment, falsifying documents and concealing serious medical conditions. In May, for instance, The Oregonian reported that the Army had accepted an autistic recruit and signed him up to become a cavalry scout. The recruit has since been discharged.

Last year, allegations of wrongdoing among the military's 22,000 recruiters grew by 50 percent over fiscal 2004 claims, while substantiated cases increased by more than 50 percent. Criminal violations, meanwhile, jumped by more than 100 percent, the GAO reported.

But the actual number of cases of wrongdoing may be even higher than the number provided by GAO, whose investigators concluded that many of the services do not have an effective way to track complaints and allegations. The Defense Department is "not in a sound position to assure the general public that it knows the full extent to which recruiter irregularities are occurring," the GAO said.

Its investigation follows two other reports in 1997 and 1998 that recommended the military improve performance among recruiters and reduce the number of violations by rewarding recruiters for every enlistee's successful completion of basic training rather than the number of enlistment contracts written for applicants they attracted.

"The Department of Defense has twice ignored GAO recommendations on how best to account for and limit recruiters' violations," Rep. Fortney (Pete) Stark, D-Calif., said in a statement Monday. "This third inquiry confirms the two prior reports' findings and demands immediate action."

Stark, who requested the report with House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee ranking member Vic Snyder, D-Ark., urged the military to "take overdue steps" to enforce the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. Snyder Monday called on the House Armed Services Committee to increase oversight on the matter.

"Our all-volunteer military depends on successfully recruiting quality people," Snyder said.

In 2005, the Army, Army Reserve and Navy Reserve failed to meet recruiting goals. But that tide may be changing, with the Defense Department reporting last week that all services met or exceeded their recruiting targets for July.