Recruitment Facts

Senator John Kerry made comments that were reported to be demeaning to our brave men and women in the armed forces. The quote was not taken in context, and the entire statement was clearly aimed at President Bush. This is a clear example of how a misreporting event can be re-reported throughout the 24 hour news cycle, and eventually taken as fact.
It seems that we should be concerned with issues, positions and actual facts.

Let's look at the following data:
- higher recruitment ratings are found in poorer counties nationwide
- the highest recruitment levels are in Montana and the lowest Rhode Island
- high income areas (household incomes over $60,000) are underrepresented and low and middle income areas are overrepresented
- the average number (per county) of recruits in is 1.6 per 1,000 (males aged 18-24)
- rural area have more recruits
- 86% of army recruits have graduated high school
- the government spends 4 billion dollars per year in its recruitment budget
- I can find no data correlating college degrees and military enlistment. This is not surprising when you consider most high school graduates choose a trade, college, or the military.

From this data we can conclude that military enlistments are much lower in families who have higher income levels. This is not to say that those individuals may not join the military through ROTC or other programs. However our armed forces are staffed, we should respect those who serve, honor their commitment and hold their leaders to a high degree of accountability when calling them into service.

Partially reported quotes taken out of context for partisan attacks hold no one accountable.