Soldiers of Fortune

[May 16th, 2007]

Two weeks ago, 84-year-old retired Master Sgt. Nestor Perala opened his mail, as he does most days at the Laurelhurst Village assisted living facility in Southeast Portland.

Given Perala's disapproval of the current war in Iraq, one package with a letter, commemorative pin and promotional DVD stood out.

The letter came from the U.S. Army, and it caught Perala's attention because it contained a notice that the federal government is now offering $2,000 bonuses to retired vets who successfully recruit new soldiers to the Army. It's part of a little-noticed program approved by the 109th Congress and signed into law in October under the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act.

Nearly 750,000 retired soldiers—veterans who are now earning their pensions—are supposed to get similar letters, according to the Army.

"I think they're desperate," says Perala, who sometimes uses a cane to walk but boasts cheerfully that he's gained only five pounds since he was 21.

Perala's view is not shared by the Army. It contends it's reaching its overall recruitment goals and reports that it signed up 5,804 new soldiers last month, 400 soldiers more than its goal. "In fiscal year 2007 so far, more than 165,000 soldiers have enlisted or re-enlisted in the Army—that is equivalent to every man, woman and child in Chattanooga, Tenn.," an Army fact sheet states.

Perala, who volunteered for the Army in 1943, subsequently served in a prison camp for German soldiers in Colorado during World War II. But he is not pleased with the Army's current recruiting efforts to support the war in Iraq. (Bonuses for helping with soldier recruitment are also available to National Guardsmen and the Army's civilian employees.)

"Here, 3,300 people have died, and we don't know why," Perala says. "They have stooped to a new low to avoid [reinstating] the draft."

Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of eligible retired soldiers have made referrals this year. And of the 689 recruits referred, 68 have so far made it to basic training, the Army says.

The Congressional Budget Office did not estimate the specific cost of the program in its analysis of the $509 billion Defense Authorization Act.

The fine print on the program stipulates that the recruit must first make it to basic training, at which point the retired soldier gets half of the bonus. Then the recruit must complete a second training unit before the retired soldier receives final payment.

Perala is not a pacifist, he says; he believes in defending the security of this country. But he thinks the U.S. should end the war in Iraq.

"After four years of combat, we've won nothing," he says. "They're running out of bodies, and they're determined not to have a draft."