I attended my first Congressional hearing today. It was convened by the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel and Readiness. The witnesses included the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Chief of Personnel for each of the Services. The topic was "Challenges to Recruiting," a growing concern given that the number of eligible recruits between 18 and 26 is shrinking.
I went to the meeting mostly to get acquainted with the hearing process but I also hoped that somewhere during the meeting sexual assault in the military would come up. All the witnesses reported they were currently meeting recruiting goals but acknowledged that the improved economy has the potential to decrease the recruiting pool as more civilian jobs become available. The other challenge addressed had to do with "propensity," as in a young civilian's propensity to join the military. Apparently joining the military is not as attractive an option as it used to be.
Two Congressmen who are not sitting members of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel were invited to sit in on the hearing. They came to discuss current policies on enlisting non-resident citizens from other countries.
Just before the meeting was adjourned the ranking member was asked for any additional comments/discussion. In this very last, short portion of the meeting Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) asked if recruiting was becoming enough of a challenge that Services were issuing waivers to potential recruits with a history of sexual misconduct. All the Personnel Chiefs responded in the negative and avowed that would not happen. They added that most waivers are for health and fitness reasons.
I still plan to share some information on the meetings I attended in October and December. Each was very different from the other in subject matter. I also hope that some of my followers know some of the people in attendance at these meetings.
Video of the hearing at http://armedservices.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=281
In your first Congressional hearing, your arm makes it on TV - who's to say what will happen at the next? Or the one after?!
ReplyDeleteSara: Best of fortune on your project. I've been to numerous hearings (retired GAO and CDR, SC, USNR-Ret.) and let me know how I can help you. Having said that, I have strong doubts about putting women on shipboard, especially on SSNs. Interesting that Congress is looking at using enlistment as a stepping stone to citizenship. That was offered to Fillipinos when I was an ensign in the early 70s. Also, some of my Dads' PhD candidates (mathematics) agreed to serve to avoid being kicked out of the country.
ReplyDelete