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Nov 21, 2006 12:13 am US/Mountain
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CBS4 Investigates Army Recruits' 'Moral Waivers'
by Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) ―
A CBS4 investigation shows how the U.S. Army is accepting more applicants with criminal records, including drug problems, through a system of "waivers" to bypass regulations.
With a high demand for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has struggled to meet its recruiting and retention goals in past years. However, in the 2006 fiscal year, the Army exceeded its goal by enlisting 80,635 new troops.
The Army failed to reach its goal by 8 percent in 2005 which is a year they said was a less challenging recruiting environment.
The factors for an increase in enlistment include the change of the age limit from 40 to 42, a lowering of aptitude test score standards and an increase in what the Army calls "moral waivers."
Nationally, the Army has increased its acceptance of moral waivers from 7,640 in 2001 to 11,018 in 2006.
To see how the policy works, CBS4 sent a woman into local recruiting stations and claimed to have a marijuana possession record.
"You could still be an officer with that," a recruiter told the woman. "It may slow it down a bit … it requires a waiver."
At another recruiting office in Aurora, a different recruiter told the woman that her marijuana possession charge wouldn't keep her from getting into the military.
"It's a waiver," he said and then took his prospective enlistee outside for what he called a "heart to heart."
"I smoked in Amsterdam," the recruiter said. "Since I've been in the Army, I have smoked, but you can't smoke all the time because you will get busted."
The Army said drug usage is not compatible with military service.
But at another recruiting center, a recruiter said smoking marijuana is fairly commonplace among active duty soldiers.
"You would be surprised," he said. "Especially like the unit I came from… there was a lot of people up there… a lot of people but it's like they did it in increments, you know. It wasn't like an addiction."
Waivers are written permission to waive or bypass certain rules. The Army said the burden is on the applicant to prove they have overcome what might have previously disqualified them.
A CBS4 employee also went in with a hidden camera and this time suggested he was a gang member.
"Does it matter that I was in a gang or anything like that?" he asked the recruiter.
At first, he was told the Army doesn't accept enlistees who were gang members, but then the senior officer stepped in.
"You may have had some gang activity in the past and everything, ok, and that in itself does not disqualify you," he said.
From 2004 to 2005, the number of recruits brought into the Army with serious criminal misconduct waiver jumped 54 percent, drug and alcohol waivers increased 13 percent and misdemeanor waivers increased 25 percent.
The Army, however, said it's not waivers but money incentives that have attracted new soldiers. Some are receiving bonuses of up to $40,000 and benefits now as high as $73,000 for college.
The Army's new advertising slogan is "Army Strong" but it comes as the Army appears to be weakening some of its standards to enlist.
Lt. Colonel Reginald Cox commands the Army recruiting battalion based in Denver. He insisted standards have not been lowered.
"These new applicants are doing an outstanding job for their country," Cox said. "They're brave. They have courage. They're living the Army values."
The Army said the waivers are a way to give young people the chance to overcome the mistakes made earlier in their lives by enlisting in the U.S. armed forces.
(© MMVI CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)