Pentagon officials said one week ago that with Congressional concerns that the U.S. military is stretched too thin, it plans to recall soldiers who left the service and did not join the reserves. One reason for considering the recall, which would be largest in more than a decade, is that the country’s already invested a lot in them. It’s estimated that 100-thousand dollars is spent training the average soldier. Iowa National Guard spokesman Colonel Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood says it’s tough to put a finger on the exact number but 100-thousand is “in the ballpark,” from the time you recruit a soldier till they’re through basic, then advanced individual training, and fully outfitted for duty. Hapgood says it can be tricky to break down how all that money’s been spent to train a soldier. For example, a pair of boots might cost 60-dollars, but it’s harder to figure a share of the recruiter’s salary, the pay for a drill sergeant and other people who train the soldier, and all the value that goes into the soldier up till they’re ready to walk out the door and take on a mission. Hapgood says by the time they’re battle-ready, it’s taken a lot of money, time, and work. By the time a soldier gets to a basic-training station it’s been 8 to 9 weeks, then advanced individual training depending on the skill that soldier’s taking up. Being a clerk could take as little as 6 weeks, but a communications skill could take up to 20 weeks of training so it depends on the level of skill that soldier wants to have. The G-I stood for General Issue, but Hapgood says today there’s really no such thing as the common, interchangeable soldier. You can go to some colleges and get a Bachelor of General Studies Degree, but every soldier has some area of accomplishment, and there aren’t really “generalists.”
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