[Marxism] One Oath Leads to Another

[Bonnie Weinstein <giobon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

One Oath Leads to Another
By KIRK SEMPLE
April 2, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/nyregion/02recruits.html?ref=nyregion

Stephen Chi was born in Norway to Chinese immigrant parents, grew up  
in Sweden, received undergraduate and graduate degrees at Saginaw  
Valley State University in Michigan, mastered five languages and now  
works as an information technology consultant in New York City.

But for all the experiences his peripatetic life has given him, it  
has also left him with a profound sense of rootlessness. So he  
recently applied to enlist in the United States Army.

“I don’t feel like I belong anywhere,” Mr. Chi, 30, said on  
Wednesday. “I wanted to become part of something bigger.”

Until last month, Mr. Chi’s application would have been rejected  
outright because only American citizens and permanent residents —  
immigrants who carry green cards — were permitted to enlist in the  
American military. But under a new program that began Feb. 23 and is  
intended to increase the number of highly skilled soldiers, the  
American military is now allowing some temporary immigrants to enlist.

In a public ceremony in Times Square on Wednesday, Gen. George W.  
Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, swore in 16 of those new  
recruits, including Mr. Chi. The others hailed from Pakistan,  
Bangladesh, India, Korea and Sweden.

They gathered outside the recruiting station on the traffic island  
where Broadway and Seventh Avenue converge, pulled drab olive Army T- 
shirts over their civilian tops and, shivering against the cold,  
followed General Casey in a vow of allegiance to the military and to  
the United States.

“Our diversity only strengthens us,” General Casey said in an  
interview with reporters after the ceremony.

The new program, known as Military Accessions Vital to the National  
Interest, is intended to address shortages among soldiers with  
medical expertise and foreign language skills. It will be limited to  
1,000 enlistees in the first year, most of whom will enter the Army,  
though the American military command plans to expand it to include  
other branches and thousands more recruits every year.

It is open to foreigners who have lived legally in the United States  
for at least two years on temporary visas, including high-skilled  
employment visas and student visas. Illegal immigrants will continue  
to be barred from enlisting.

As an enticement, the government is offering an expedited path to  
citizenship and will waive naturalization fees.

Of 4,833 applicants so far, 52 people have enlisted, including  
Wednesday’s group, while 445 have been disqualified, military  
officials said.

Of the 52 new enlistees, 11 have master’s degrees, 31 have bachelor’s  
degrees and 4 have associate’s degrees or the equivalent, officials  
said. The remaining six are high school graduates.

At least 24 of the soldiers speak Korean, 11 speak Hindi, 9 speak a  
Chinese dialect, 3 speak Russian, 3 speak Arabic and one speaks Urdu.

The naturalization process for most foreigners on temporary visas can  
often take more than a decade. But people in the new program will be  
able to become citizens within six months, officials said. To  
maintain their citizenship, the enlistees must honorably complete  
their service, which ranges from two to four years of active duty,  
plus reserve duty, depending on their specialty.

Many of the new recruits, however, said after the ceremony that while  
the streamlined citizenship process was very attractive, it had not  
been the leading factor in their decision.

Indeed, several said they had applied to enlist without even knowing  
about the new program.

Toniya Mishra, an Indian citizen who holds a master’s degree in  
industrial engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology,  
said she applied a day before the introduction of the program. She  
had been laid off from her job at a New Jersey company that makes  
pharmaceutical software; the firm was cutting staff because of the  
economic downturn.

Ms. Mishra, 24, said she applied after seeing a job posting on the  
Internet seeking engineers for the Army, but said she did not expect  
to receive a call because of her nationality.

Umesh Sharma, 37, who holds a master’s degree in international  
education policy from Harvard, first tried to enlist in 2006 but was  
rejected because of his Indian citizenship. He reapplied last month  
when he read about the new program.

Mr. Sharma, who has been working for a private tutoring firm in  
Virginia, said he was motivated to enlist as a way of helping  
developing countries in areas like education reform. He enlisted as  
an infantryman because he wanted “to be on the front lines and  
associate with the society, face to face.

“If I’m in the Army, I want to be really involved,” he added.

Mr. Chi has an additional hurdle to clear: He still has not told his  
parents that he has joined the Army. “I guess I have to tell them  
sometime,” he said, chuckling uncomfortably at the thought. But he  
said he did not plan to break the news to them until after he  
returned from basic training, by which time, he said, he would be on  
his way in his new career — “and it’s too late.” 
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