Remember all the stories a couple years ago about the "difficulties" in US Army retention?* Well here is another update on those "difficulties":

The active Army reached its fiscal 2006 retention goal one month early today when a Fort Campbell Soldier reenlisted.

Staff Sgt. Michael Obleton, a truck driver assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, became the 64,200th reenlistment since Oct. 1, 2005. Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard Cody presided over the ceremony.

"What a commitment. Our Army has been at war longer than we fought in World War II. Soldiers still reenlist knowing full well the dangers, knowing full well the sacrifice," said Cody.

Obleton, of Columbus, Ga., joined the Army in 1997 at age 27. "I had a job, but I was looking for more," he said. "I was looking for a challenge."

Obleton's wife, Sheila, is also a Soldier serving with the 101st Abn. Div. She is a sergeant first class and career counselor. Both Obleton¿s hope to make careers of the Army.

Obleton has deployed to Kosovo, Bosnia and twice to Iraq since his enlistment. He reenlisted to attend the career counselor course, and received no bonuses.

"The Army has met its retention goals for the past nine years in a row and making this year's goal shows that once people join this team, they stay with the team," said Maj. Gen. Sean Byrne, director of Military Personnel Management.

Let's see this guy has deployed multiple times including twice to Iraq and reenlisted without even getting a bonus. People on the left would call him stupid, I call him a real American hero.


Like I reported earlier this year, the military is also surpassing their recruiting numbers as well. However, who knows this? The MSM created this perception of people not re-enlisting in the military when in fact the military has made their retention numbers for 9 straight years! By the way who was in office 9 years go? It sure wasn't President Bush.


Now also think about this, it takes about 4-5 years to make sergeant in the US Army. That would mean that the vast majority of soldier ranks between E1-E4 who do the majority of the country's necessary dirty work and sacrifice from the streets of Ramadi to the valleys of Afghanistan, are filled with soldiers that enlisted after the Iraq War fulling knowing they were going into combat. This is not your daddy's Vietnam Army anymore.


The left's arguement that the US military is dragging kids who signed up just for the GI Bill to war has been completely proven false. Will the US media ever call them on it. Of course not. These kids are signing up not only for the GI Bill but also to serve their country in the War on Terror fully knowing the risks and dangers involved. Just like SSG Obleton, all these soldiers who have enlisted in the army during the War on Terror are real heroes that everyone should be proud of to have defending our great country, not to mention the recruiters out there working tirelessly to keep our forces manned. It heroes like this the US media unfortunately by choice, cannot and will not ever understand.


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