For TERRY

Despite what some post about...

The Department of Defense has announced its recruiting and retention statistics by the active and reserve components for the FY 2006 recruiting year.

Active duty recruiting. All services have met or exceeded their recruiting goals for fiscal 2006.

Active duty retention. Overall, the active duty services exceeded retention goals across the board. The Army, Air Force and Marine Corps exceeded fiscal 2006 retention goals in every category. The Navy retained in high numbers at the outset of the year, but a focus on physical fitness test performance led to an increase in disqualification among first-term sailors.

Reserve forces recruiting. Two of six Reserve components met or exceeded their accession goals for fiscal 2006, while two other Reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard were close to making their end of year goals.Although the Army Reserve fell short of its annual accession goal, the U.S. Army Recruiting Command achieved 99+percent of its annual recruiting goal.

Reserve forces retention. Losses in all Reserve components were within acceptable limits. However, enlisted attrition through August 2006 is higher than the same period reported last year, but lower than the same period in the base year of fiscal 2000. The U.S. Naval Reserve presents a concern with its increasing attrition rates. We expect September 2006 to continue the current trend. (Note: This indicator lags by one month.)

Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is not included under the DOD statistics below (because the Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security), but the Coast Guard met its active duty recruiting goal for FY 2006, recruiting 3,992 enlisted members out of a goal of 3,950 (101%). However, the Coast Guard fell short of their Reserve goals, recruiting only 924 out of a goal of 1,390 (66%).

Fiscal 2006 Enlisted Recruiting from October 1, 2005 - September 30, 2006:

Recruiting Statistics

Componant	Accessions	Goal	Percent
Army	80,635	80,000	101
Navy	36,679	36,656	100
Marine Corps	32,337	32,301	100
Air Force	30,889	30,750	100
Army National Guard	69,042	70,000	99
Army Reserve	34,379	36,032	95
Navy Reserve	9,722	11,180	87
Marine Corps Reserve	8,056	8,024	100
Air National Guard	9,138	9,380	97
Air Force Reserve	6,989	6,607	106

Good Friday

In a recent e-mail from my old friend, he reminded me of something significant.

While I was busy getting the kids off to school,
Jesus was busy staggering his cross to Calvary.

While I was busy at the store buying my bitter herbs,
Jesus was busy being nailed to the cross.

While I was busy choosing the Caddish wine,
Jesus was rejecting the wine with gall.

While I went through my busy day - doing both good and evil -
Jesus hung on the cross and took it all.

While the kids were packing up there school supplies,
Jesus was commending his Mother to John.

While I was busy picking up the kids, Jesus was busy dieing.

While I went about preparing our Seder Dinner,
Joseph of Arimathea was negotiating for Jesus' body.

While our family celebrated our simple Seder dinner,
Joseph and Nicodemius buried Jesus in the tomb.

While I was busy washing the dishes the authorities were busy sealing His tomb.

It was a very busy day.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and yours during this sacred season, and may his countenance rest upon you for all to see,

Job Offer

After spending the entirety of Tuesday at the Oregon Professional educator fair, I scored four interviews. Three down, one to go. I just got a call, and was offered a job in COMPTON! Yeah, Compton, California, you guessed it..."C-O-M-P-T-O-N, and the city they call Long beach" - Dr. Dreahaha. I got a week to let them know I probably wont do it, but the offer sure is nice!