April 21, 2008
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(Washington) Newly released data show that the Army and the Marine Corp, under pressure to increase their numbers, have sharply raised the number of recruits who have felony convictions.
The information, released Monday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, shows that the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.
The bulk of the crimes involved were burglaries, other thefts, and drug offenses, but nine involved sex crimes and six involved manslaughter or vehicular homicide convictions. Several dozen Army and Marine recruits had aggravated assault or robbery convictions, including incidents involving weapons.
The use of felons to the fill the ranks comes as 2 people every day are dropped from the military for being gay under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" the ban on gays serving openly in the armed services.... read more
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