5 years later: Recruiting isn’t the same either

When West Bend’s Dan Broege wanted to join the Army, Uncle Sam didn’t want him.

That was five years ago - post Sept. 11 - and the military was ramping up for the war on terrorism and invasion of Iraq.

It was 2002. Broege’s sister was an Army reservist who extended her enlistment period and used Army tuition benefits to pay for college.

"Basically I was in a place where I wasn’t going anywhere or doing anything," Broege said. "I was looking for a little direction and to earn some personal respect for myself and others."

He was turned away, he said, because his record showed several incidences of driving while intoxicated.

The Army’s decision was surprising, Broege said. "I didn’t feel like I fit the profile of a person they wouldn’t accept," Broege said.

Now Broege, 26, is in his second semester at the University of Wisconsin-Washington County. He said he was contacted twice this summer by recruiters, who said Army policies had changed to become more lenient and offered enlistment.

"It really kind of upset me when they called me over the summer," he said.

This time it was Broege who said no.

"You know what their hidden agenda is; it’s wartime and they need people," Broege said. "When I felt I was ready they didn’t want me."

Read the rest at Greater Milwaukee Today