Recruiters have eye on 7-year-old

[thedrifter]

June 11, 2003

Recruiters have eye on 7-year-old

Associated Press


NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. ? First the Marines came calling. Now the Navy wants Joey Crossman.
?For every time someone said you couldn?t do it. Or you don?t have what it takes . . . Prove them wrong,? the Navy has challenged Joey in a letter that also promised to ?accelerate? his life.

But is Joey ready for the ride? After all, he?s only 7.

?We?re just waiting for the Army and the Air Force,? said Joey?s mother, Kathy Crossman, who was astonished to find the latest recruiting letter in the mail last week. ?He?s probably the most wanted 7-year-old in the country.?

The name of the recent first-grade graduate has mistakenly landed on military recruitment lists, most likely through a magazine subscription. In April, the Marines tried to recruit Joey, who was still somewhat indifferent to the idea as he sipped from a juice box and watched his friends swinging on a jungle gym.

?I can assure you the United States Navy is not in the business of recruiting 7-year-olds,? said Lt. Bill Davis, a spokesman for Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, Tenn. ?Our minimal age is 17 with parental consent.

?But if he?s got interest in the Navy and he wants to find out more, we?ll help him. It has to start somewhere,? Davis added.

But if the Navy wants Joey, it may have to make some changes to accommodate his standard of living.

Joey toured the carrier Yorktown, now a floating museum, during a family trip to South Carolina in April and wasn?t impressed with the hard, impersonal bunks.

?The bathrooms they had weren?t working,? Joey said. ?I just don?t want to live on a ship.?






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.


Sempers,

Roger