Recession helps the Army, and more

Recession helps the Army

Thanks in part to the ailing economy, the U.S. Army this year met its goal of recruiting 80,000 soldiers, after several years of struggling to makes its quota. The military tends to “benefit when things look less positive in civil society,” said Defense Undersecretary David Chu. After missing its goal in 2005, when violence in Iraq was at its peak, the Army raised the maximum age for recruits and increased enlistment bonuses.

Energy auctions altered

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Rights to drill for oil and gas on land bordering national parks in Utah and Wyoming’s Flaming Gorge recreation area will not be auctioned to the private sector, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said. The bureau pulled the leases, covering about 100,000 acres of land, after the National Park Service objected. But despite protests by environmentalists, the auction will proceed for leases covering about 276,000 acres in southern Utah.