thedrifter
11-03-07, 08:40 AM
9 Marine recruiters punished in cheating scam
The Associated Press
Friday Nov 2, 2007
HOUSTON — The military has punished nine Marine Corps recruiters who arranged for stand-ins to take armed services entrance exams for new enlistees.
The cheating was made public Wednesday, though Capt. John Niemann, a spokesman for the local recruiting district, said officials at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Houston noticed in April that signatures of test takers didn’t match those on enlistment forms.
“I don’t know why this happened here. Obviously, we do not tolerate it,” Niemann said. “We learned of it. We investigated it and took appropriate disciplinary action.”
One offender was discharged from the service while the remaining eight were reassigned and given nonjudicial punishments, which could include fines and demotion.
The military would not release the names of the recruiters. Four of them were based in Memorial City, one in Lake Jackson, one in Baybrook and two in Houston.
“The bottom line is that it is all cleaned up,” Niemann said.
Officials said they found 15 incidents of fraud, although they weren’t sure how widespread the practice was or how long it had been going on.
The cheating took place on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a test given to prospective recruits to determine whether they’re eligible for the service and what type of military jobs they’re best suited for.
“It is a requirement if you go into the Marine Corps,” said Maj. Wesley Hayes, of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command headquarters in Virginia.
Officials said the recruits who didn’t take their own tests faced a range of consequences, including an opportunity to take the exam on their own and expulsion from the service.
Officials did not say who the stand-in test takers were.
Jack Hirschfield, a spokesman for Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, said he believed the scandal was not widespread.
“We see this as a few bad apples and absolutely not representative of the Corps and the tens of thousands of brave men and women on the front lines trying to fight for freedom and security in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Friday Nov 2, 2007
HOUSTON — The military has punished nine Marine Corps recruiters who arranged for stand-ins to take armed services entrance exams for new enlistees.
The cheating was made public Wednesday, though Capt. John Niemann, a spokesman for the local recruiting district, said officials at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Houston noticed in April that signatures of test takers didn’t match those on enlistment forms.
“I don’t know why this happened here. Obviously, we do not tolerate it,” Niemann said. “We learned of it. We investigated it and took appropriate disciplinary action.”
One offender was discharged from the service while the remaining eight were reassigned and given nonjudicial punishments, which could include fines and demotion.
The military would not release the names of the recruiters. Four of them were based in Memorial City, one in Lake Jackson, one in Baybrook and two in Houston.
“The bottom line is that it is all cleaned up,” Niemann said.
Officials said they found 15 incidents of fraud, although they weren’t sure how widespread the practice was or how long it had been going on.
The cheating took place on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a test given to prospective recruits to determine whether they’re eligible for the service and what type of military jobs they’re best suited for.
“It is a requirement if you go into the Marine Corps,” said Maj. Wesley Hayes, of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command headquarters in Virginia.
Officials said the recruits who didn’t take their own tests faced a range of consequences, including an opportunity to take the exam on their own and expulsion from the service.
Officials did not say who the stand-in test takers were.
Jack Hirschfield, a spokesman for Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, said he believed the scandal was not widespread.
“We see this as a few bad apples and absolutely not representative of the Corps and the tens of thousands of brave men and women on the front lines trying to fight for freedom and security in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
Ellie