One thing I never understand about the US - you constantly praise your
military (with justification) and yet you pay them appallingly.
A British raw recruit gets USD 23770  (US E1 gets 15272)  and a Sergeant  (8
years) gets 52267 (US E8 with 8 years gets USD 39504).
That really sucks.

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/pay/bl06enlbasepay.htm
http://www.armyjobs.mod.uk/RegularArmy/ArmyLife/PayAndLeave/Soldier/

Dave Milne, Scotland

A U.S. military 'at its breaking point' considers foreign recruits


By BryanBender
The Boston Globe

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

WASHINGTON

The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are
considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks - including
disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and put more
immigrants on a faster track to U.S. citizenship if they volunteer -
according to Pentagon officials.

Foreign citizens' serving in the U.S. military is a highly charged issue,
which could expose the Pentagon to criticism that it is essentially using
mercenaries to defend the country. Other analysts voice concern that a
large contingent of noncitizens under arms could jeopardize national
security or reflect badly on Americans' willingness to serve in uniform.

The idea of signing up residents who are seeking U.S. citizenship is
gaining traction as a way to address a critical need for the Pentagon,
while fully absorbing some of the roughly one million immigrants that
enter the United States legally each year.

The proposal to induct more noncitizens, which is still largely on the
drawing board, has to clear a number of hurdles. So far, the Pentagon has
been quiet about specifics, like who would be eligible to join, where the
recruiting stations would be, and what the minimum standards might
involve, like English proficiency. In the meantime, the Pentagon and the
immigration authorities have expanded a program that accelerates
citizenship for legal residents who volunteer for the military.

Since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the number of immigrants in
uniform who have become U.S. citizens has increased from 750 in 2001 to
almost 4,600 last year, according to military statistics.

With severe manpower strains because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and a mandate to expand the overall size of the military, the Pentagon is
under pressure to consider a variety of proposals involving foreign
recruits, according to a military affairs analyst.

"It works as a military idea and it works in the context of American
immigration," said Thomas Donnelly, a military scholar at the conservative
American Enterprise Institute in Washington and a leading proponent of
recruiting more foreigners to serve in the military.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on, the Pentagon has warned
Congress and the White House that the military is stretched "to the
breaking point."

Both President George W. Bush and Robert Gates, his new defense secretary,
have acknowledged that the total size of the military must be expanded to
help alleviate the strain on ground troops, many of whom have been
deployed repeatedly in combat theaters.

Bush said last week that he had ordered Gates to come up with a plan for
the first significant increase in ground forces since the end of the Cold
War.

That has led Pentagon officials to consider casting a wider net for
noncitizens who are already in the United States, said Lieutenant Colonel
Bryan Hilferty, an army spokesman.

Already, the army and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of
the Department of Homeland Security have "made it easier for green-card
holders who do enlist to get their citizenship," Hilferty said.

Other army officials, who asked not to be identified, said personnel
officials were working with Congress and other parts of the government to
test the feasibility of going beyond U.S. borders to recruit soldiers and
marines.

Currently, Pentagon policy stipulates that only immigrants legally
residing in the United States are eligible to enlist. There are currently
about 30,000 noncitizens who serve in the U.S. armed forces, making up
about 2 percent of the active- duty force, according to statistics from
the military and the Council on Foreign Relations. About 100 such
noncitizens have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A recent change in U.S. law, however, gave the Pentagon authority to bring
immigrants to the United States if it determines it is vital to national
security. So far, the Pentagon has not taken advantage of it, but the
calls are growing to use this new authority.

Indeed, some top military thinkers believe the United States should go as
far as targeting foreigners in their native countries.

"It's a little dramatic," said Michael O'Hanlon, a military specialist at
the nonpartisan Brookings Institution and another supporter of the
proposal. "But if you don't get some new idea how to do this, we will not
be able to achieve an increase" in the size of the armed forces.

"We have already done the standard things to recruit new soldiers,
including using more recruiters and new advertising campaigns," O'Hanlon
added.

O'Hanlon and others noted that the country has relied before on sizable
numbers of noncitizens to serve in the military - in the Revolutionary
War, for example, German and French soldiers served alongside the
colonists, and locals were recruited into U.S. ranks to fight insurgents
in the Philippines.

Other nations have recruited foreign citizens: In France, the famed
Foreign Legion relies on about 8,000 noncitizens; Nepalese Gurkhas have
fought and died with British Army forces for two centuries; and the Swiss
Guard, which protects the Vatican, consists of troops who hail from many
nations.

"It is not without historical precedent," Donnelly said.

Still, to some military officials and civil rights groups, relying on a
large number of foreigners to serve in the military is offensive.

A Hispanic rights advocacy group, National Council of La Raza, has said
that the plan sends the wrong message that Americans themselves are not
willing to sacrifice to defend their country. Officials have also raised
concerns that immigrants would be disproportionately sent to the front
lines as "cannon fodder" in any conflict.

Some within the army privately express concern that a big push to recruit
noncitizens would smack of "the decline of the American empire," said one
army official who asked not to be identified.