Autism in the miliary

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Recruiting Abuses Mount as Army Struggles to Meet Goals

BY MICHELLE ROBERTS

c.2006 Newhouse News Service

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Guinther is 18. Tall and lanky, he will

graduate from high school in June. Girls think he's cute, until they try to

talk to him and he stammers or just stands there -- silent.

Diagnosed with autism at age 3, is polite but won't talk to

people unless they address him first. It's hard for him to make friends. He

lives in his own private world.

didn't know there was a war raging in Iraq until his parents told

him last fall -- shortly after a military recruiter stopped him outside

a Portland strip mall and complimented his black Converse All-Stars.

" When first started talking about joining the Army, I thought,

`Well, that isn't going to happen, " ' said Guinther, 's father.

" I told my wife not to worry about it. They're not going to take

anybody in the service who's autistic. "

But they did. Last month, came home with papers showing that he

had not only enlisted, but signed up for the Army's most dangerous job:

cavalry scout. He is scheduled to leave for basic training Aug. 16.

Officials are now investigating whether recruiters at the U.S. Army

Recruiting Station in southeast Portland improperly concealed 's

disability, which should have made him ineligible for service.

What happened to is a growing national problem as the military

faces increasing pressure to hit recruiting targets during an unpopular

war.

Tracking by the Pentagon shows that complaints about recruiting

improprieties are on pace to again reach record highs set in 2003 and 2004.

Both the active Army and Reserve missed recruiting targets last year, and

reports of recruiting abuses continue from across the country.

A family in Ohio reported that its mentally ill son was signed up,

despite rules banning such enlistments and the fact that records about his

illness were readily available.

In Houston, a recruiter warned a potential enlistee that if he backed

out of a meeting he'd be arrested.

And in Colorado, a high school student working undercover told

recruiters he'd dropped out and had a drug problem. The recruiter told the boy

to fake a diploma and buy a product to help him beat a drug test.

Violations such as these forced the Army to halt recruiting for a day

last May so recruiters could be retrained and reminded of the job's

ethical requirements.

The Portland Army Recruiting Battalion Headquarters opened its

investigation into 's case last week after his parents called The

Oregonian and the newspaper began asking questions about his enlistment.

Maj. Curt Steinagel, commander of the Military Entrance Processing

Station in Portland, said the papers filled out by 's recruiters

contained no indication of his disability. Steinagel acknowledged that the

current climate is tough on recruiters.

" I can't speak for Army, " he said, " but it's no secret that recruiters

stretch and bend the rules because of all the pressure they're under.

The problem exists, and we all know it exists. "

* * *

lives in a tiny brown house in southeast Portland that looks as

worn out as his parents do when they get home from work.

Guinther, 57, labors 50- to 60-hour weeks as a painter-sandblaster

at a tug and barge works. His wife, , 50, has the graveyard

housekeeping shift at a medical center.

The couple got together nearly 16 years ago when was 3. ,

who had two young children of her own, immediately noticed that

was different and pushed to have the boy tested.

" would play with buttons for hours on end, " she said. " He'd play

with one toy for days. Loud noises bothered him. He was scared to death

of the toilet flushing, the lawn mower. "

didn't speak until he was almost 4 and could not tolerate the

feel of grass on his feet.

Doctors diagnosed him with moderate to severe autism, a developmental

disorder that strikes when children are toddlers. It causes problems

with social interaction, language and intelligence. No one knows its cause

or cure.

School and medical records show that , whose recent verbal IQ

tested very low, spent years in special education classes. It was only as a

high school senior that pushed for to take regular classes

because she wanted him to get a normal rather than a modified diploma.

required extensive tutoring and accommodations to pass, but in

June he will graduate alongside his younger stepbrother, Thorsen.

Last fall, began talking about joining the military after a

recruiter stopped him on his way home from school and offered a $4,000

signing bonus, $67,000 for college and more buddies than he could count.

told his mother that military recruiting at the school and

surrounding neighborhoods was so intense that one recruiter had pulled him

out of football practice.

Recruiters nationwide spend several hours a day cold-calling high

school students, whose phone numbers are provided by schools under the No

Child Left Behind Law. They also prospect at malls, high school

cafeterias, colleges and wherever else young people gather.

phoned her two brothers, both veterans. She said they laughed

and told her not to worry. The military would never take .

The Guinthers, meanwhile, tried to refocus their son.

" I told him, `, you get out of high school. I know you don't want

to be a janitor all your life. You work this job, you go to community

college, you find out what you want. You can live here as long as you

want, " ' said.

They thought it had worked until five weeks ago. said she called

on his cell phone to check what time he'd be home.

" I said , `What are you doing?' `I'm taking the test' -- he said

the entrance test. I go, `Wait a minute.' I said, `Who's giving you the

test?' He said, `Corporal.' I said, `Well let me talk to him. " '

said she spoke to Cpl. Ronan Ansley and explained that had

a disability, autism, that could not be outgrown. She said Ansley told

her he had been in special classes, too -- for dyslexia.

" I said, `Wait a minute, there's a big difference between autism and

your problem, " ' said.

Military rules prohibit enlisting anyone with a mental disorder that

interferes with school or employment, unless a recruit can show he or she

hasn't required special academic or job accommodations for 12 months.

has been in special education classes since preschool. Through a

special program for disabled workers, he has a part-time job scrubbing

toilets and dumping trash.

scored 43 out of 99 on the Army's basic entrance exam -- 31 is

lowest grade the Army allows for enlistment, military officials said.

After learning had cleared this first hurdle toward enlistment,

said she called and asked for Ansley's supervisor and got Sgt.

Velasco.

She said she begged Velasco to review 's medical and school

records. said Velasco declined, asserting that he didn't need any

paperwork. Under military rules, recruiters are required to gather all

available information about a recruit and fill out a medical screening

form.

" He was real cocky and he says, `Well, 's an 18-year-old man. He

doesn't need his mommy to make his decisions for him. " '

* * *

The Guinthers are not political activists. They supported the Iraq war

in the beginning but have started to question it as fighting drags on.

Guinther said that if her son had enlisted, she

" wouldn't like it, but I would learn to live with it because I know he would

understand the consequences. "

But doesn't understand the dangers or the details of what he's

done, the Guinthers said.

When they asked how long he would be in the Army, he said he

didn't know. His enlistment papers show it's just over four years.

also was disappointed to learn that he wouldn't be paid the $4,000

signing bonus until after basic training.

During a recent family gathering, a relative asked what he would

do if an enemy was shooting at him. ran to his video game

console, killed a digital Xbox soldier and announced, " See! I can do it! "

" My concern is that if he got into a combat situation he really

couldn't take someone's back, " said Lou , 51, longtime friend of the

Guinthers. " He wouldn't really know a dangerous thing. This job they

have him doing, it's like send him in and if he doesn't get blown up,

it's safe for the rest of us. "

Steinagel, the processing station commander, told The Oregonian that

showed up after passing his written exam. None of his paperwork

indicated that he was autistic, but if it had, almost certainly

would have been disqualified, he said.

On Tuesday, a reporter visited the U.S. Army Recruiting Station at the

Eastport Plaza Shopping Center, where Velasco said he had not been told

about 's autism.

" Cpl. Ansley is Guinther's recruiter, " he said. " I was unaware of any

type of autism or anything like that. "

Velasco initially denied knowing , but later said he'd spent a lot

of time mentoring him because was going to become a cavalry

scout. The job entails " engaging the enemy with anti-armor weapons and scout

vehicles, " according to an Army recruiting Web site.

After he'd spoken for a few moments, Velasco suddenly grabbed the

reporter's tape recorder and tried to tear out the tape, stopping only after

the reporter threatened to call the police.

With the Guinthers' permission, The Oregonian faxed 's medical

records to the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion commander Lt. Col.

Carlton in Portland, who on Wednesday ordered the investigation.

The Guinthers said that on Tuesday evening, Cpl. Ansley showed up at

their door. They said Ansley stated that he would probably lose his job

and face dishonorable discharge unless they could stop the newspaper's

story.

Ansley, reached at his recruiting office Thursday, declined to comment

for this story.

S. , spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, in

Fort Knox, Ky., said he could not comment on specifics of the

investigation in Portland. But he defended the 8,200 recruiters working for the

active Army and Army Reserve.

Last year, the Army relieved 44 recruiters from duty and admonished

369.

" Everyone in recruiting is let down when one of our recruiters fails to

uphold the Army's and Recruiting Command's standards, " said.

The Guinthers are eager to hear whether the Army will release

from his enlistment. is disappointed he might not go because he

thought the recruiters were his friends, they said. But they're willing to

accept that.

" If he went to Iraq and got hurt or killed, " Guinther said, " I

couldn't live with myself knowing I didn't try to stop it. "

May 7, 2006

( is a staff writer for The Oregonian of Portland, Ore.

She can be contacted at michelleroberts@...)

Garnett, Ph.D. Chair

Texas Council on Autism and

Pervasive Developmental Disorders

2707 Airport Freeway

Suite 216

Fort Worth, Texas 76111

817/377-2252

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