USA Today is reporting that “the Army, Navy and Air Force unwittingly advertised for recruits on a website for gays, who are barred from military service if they are open about their sexual orientation.”

Most of the military jobs posted were hard-to-fill positions requiring advanced training, although some ads sought to fill core combat slots at a time when the Iraq war has challenged recruiters to meet goals.

Barring gays from the military has undermined national security. “Since the policy was instituted, at least 11,000 servicemembers, hundreds of whom had with key speciality skills such as training in Arabic, have left the military. Currently in the midst of a readiness crisis, the military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays could serve openly. “

Rather than recruit gays, the military has lowered its recruiting standards. Last year, the US military “enlisted thousands of new soldiers with criminal records and fewer who have earned high school diplomas.”

The spike of new enlistees given “character” waivers for fiscal 2007 continues a steady upward trend in the number of recruits with past arrests and convictions allowed into the Army since the start of the war in Iraq. More than 11 percent of the Army recruits needed waivers for problems with the law – up from 7.9 percent the previous year and more than double the percentage in 2003, the year the U.S. invaded Iraq.

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