Army Recruiter forged signatures
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/15616118.htm
* Forged parents' signatures making it possible for teen to enlist
SAVANNAH - When Pfc. Steven Price volunteered to join the Army
in January, he couldn't do it alone. Because he's 17, recruiters
needed his parents to give their written permission.
Now an Army spokesman says a Utah-based recruiter has admitted
forging the signatures of Price's parents to enlist him.
Price of Ogden, Utah, re****ted for duty at Fort Stewart in
southeast Georgia in June after he completed basic training.
He credits the Army with restoring his pride after a troubled
adolescence, but says that doesn't justify his recruiters' actions.
"There was harm and foul play on their part," Price said.
"It was very deceiving what they did."
The Army recruited Price last winter at a juvenile prison
in Ogden, where he was serving a yearlong sentence for
stealing a gun from his father.
Officials at the Mill Creek Youth Center allowed recruiters
to take Price from the prison in January for a physical examination,
written test and finally to be sworn into service after the
recruiters showed a parental consent form.
The form, dated Jan. 10, had signatures in the names of
Price's divorced parents - Dean Price and Lisa Jensen -
as well as that of a witnessing recruiter, Sgt. 1st Class
Jason Stape.
Both parents, who live 89 miles apart, have denied signing the form.
Jensen said recruiters asked her to sign it Jan. 10, but she
told them she needed more time to think about permitting her son
to join the Army. She said the first time she saw the document
was when her son came home from basic training in May.
"I noticed my signature being forged right off the bat.
That smacked me right in the face," said Jensen, of
Brigham City, Utah. "I just hope this isn't happening to
a lot of people. That's kind of scary."
Jensen said she did sign a different consent form Feb. 8,
the day her son was released from juvenile prison,
allowing him to enter basic training.
"He begged me to go into the military," she said.
"This is what he wanted, so I was sticking to that."
Congressional investigators re****ted last month that
military recruiters have increasingly used overly aggressive,
sometimes criminal tactics - including falsifying documents -
to meet recruiting goals as the war in Iraq and a strong
job market have made their jobs more difficult.
The Government Accountability Office said substantiated
cases of wrongdoing by recruiters jumped from 400 in 2004
to almost 630 last year. Criminal cases against recruiters
more than doubled, from 30 to 70.
"Even one incident of recruiter wrongdoing can erode
public confidence in the recruiting process," the GAO re****t said.
In Price's case, the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion in
Salt Lake City launched an internal investigation and
has sent its findings to commanders at Fort Knox, Ky.,
where a decision is pending on whether any recruiters
should be punished administratively or referred to a
court-martial.
"A recruiter admitted to falsifying the document," said
Douglas Smith, a spokesman for U.S. Army Recruiting Command
at Fort Knox.
"As far as I know, this is limited to this one instance."
Smith said the investigation targeted more than one recruiter,
but he declined to identify them.
He confirmed that Stape, the signing witness named on
Price's consent form, is a recruiter for the Salt Lake City battalion.
"I'm not allowed to talk about it," Stape said when reached at his home
Monday.
Price, who turns 18 in November, said he called Army recruiters
while he was in the juvenile prison last year after another
inmate gave him their phone number.
Marty Mendenhall, superintendent at the youth prison,
said counselors made Price wait several months before allowing
him to meet with a recruiter in person.
"It's not common for the military to recruit kids from here,"
Mendenhall said. "It's often very difficult to get these kids
in the military, just based on their criminal histories."
Felony convictions - especially for violent crimes, *** crimes
and drug offenses - can disqualify someone for military service.
The Army says it's more likely to waive the criminal records of juveniles.
Smith, the Army spokesman, said Price was deemed
"fully qualified for service" despite his record.
Price has been training as a dismount gunner in his 3rd Infantry
Division unit and taking part in war games at Fort Stewart to
prepare for deployment to Iraq.
"I used to do stupid, criminal stuff, but I really like
helping people," Price said. "And now I get to do that."
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