Put some spinners on that Hummer!

"The Army is offering cash bonuses of up to $35,000 to retain young officers serving in key specialties -- including military intelligence, infantry and aviation -- in an unprecedented bid to forestall a critical shortage of officer ranks that have been hit hard by frequent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan."

"Army officials said that lengthy and repeated war-zone tours -- the top reason younger officers leave the service -- plus the need for thousands of new officers as the Army moves forward with expansion plans have contributed to a projected shortfall of about 3,000 captains and majors for every year through 2013."

Wow. This makes me even more upset that I am red/green color deficient.

"According to Army data, the overall attrition rate for captains averaged 12.2 percent from 1999 to 2007."

This seems like a really low number. If only one in every ten Army Captains chooses to leave the Army each year, that doesnt seem like chaos (I am assuming I've interpreted this number correctly). I guess the attrition rate could have been much lower until the past year or so as the war in Iraq dragged on and this could skew what may be a much higher rate now.

I wonder if this dilemma has made anyone in important positions question the Iraq war? I doubt it.