The Assoicated Press has reported that a Recruiting Officer forged signatures for Utah minor
Army recruiting: Cases of wrongdoing have jumped since 2004 as the war has made enlisting more difficult
Here is the article:
By Russ Bynum
The Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. – When Pfc. Steven Price of Utah volunteered to join the Army in January, he couldn’t do it alone. Because he’s 17, recruiters needed his parents to give their written permission.
Now, an Army spokesman says a Utah-based recruiter has admitted forging the signatures of Price’s parents to enlist him.
Price reported for duty at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia in June after he completed basic training. He credits the Army with restoring his pride after a troubled adolescence but said that doesn’t justify his recruiters’ actions.
”There was harm and foul play on their part,” the Ogden teen said. ”It was very deceiving what they did.”
After he called the Army, recruiters visited Price last winter at a juvenile prison in Ogden, where he was serving a one-year sentence for stealing a gun from his father.
Officials at the Mill Creek Youth Center allowed recruiters to take Price from the prison in January for a physical examination, written test and, finally, to be sworn into service after the recruiters showed a parental-consent form.
The form, dated Jan. 10, had signatures in the names of Price’s divorced parents, Dean Price and Lisa Jensen, as well as that of a witnessing recruiter, Sgt. 1st Class Jason Stape.
The parents, who live 89 miles apart, have denied signing the form.
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