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October 10, 2008 6:39:27 PM CDT

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Uncle Sam Wants You (But He'll Talk to Mom First)

Posted Nov 30, 07 10:01 PM CST in US 

(Newser) – Army recruiters will soon promise recruits hefty bonuses to buy a home or start a business in a bid to sway their parents that enlisting is a good investment, the Wall Street Journal reports. "We know most 18-year-old kids don't think about mortgages yet," says a Pentagon official. "We're going after the influencers."

Under the initiative, which begins in January in certain cities, the Army will give soldiers $40,000 after they complete their tours. "If you want to get a soldier, you have to go through mom, and moms want to know what kind of future their children will have when they leave the Army," said a recruiter. The move comes as the Army struggles to meet recruitment quotas even as it plans to expand.

Source Wall Street Journal

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Maria Thompson, 19, left, an online business student, listens to a recruitment speech from U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Allan Welchez Rivera in Mayaguez, western Puerto Rico, Aug. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Herminio...   (Associated Press)
Before future soldier Tyka Petty, right, leaves for basic training she meets with U.S. Army recruiter Sgt. Harry Harper at the U.S. Army Recruiting Station in Upper Darby, Pa., Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007....   (Associated Press)
Newly enlisted Army recruits, in black shirts, join recruiting officers in a ceremony in New York in this Sept. 22, 2006, file photo. (AP Photo/Bernadette Tuazon, File)   (Associated Press)
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