Australia recruits U.S. troops

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SYDNEY, May 8 (UPI) -- The Australian Defense Force says it is actively recruiting U.S. enlisted servicemen for a range of positions as military budgets shrink in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Defense plans to cut billions of dollars and 100,000 servicemen from the military as troops withdraw from Afghanistan. On the contrary, the Australian government has been expanding its military. Stars and Stripes reported in the past five years, the Australian Defense Force has recruited more than 500 retired servicemen from Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand.

"The Australian Defense Force looks to overseas candidates to fill gaps in our services, which can't currently be satisfied by standard recruitment," says a posting on the Defense Force Web site.

Australia's economy has been booming in contrast to the beleaguered economies of Western nations. Thanks to strong Chinese demand for mining products and rising commodity prices, the Australian economy has been prosperous for almost two decades. Because the Australian dollar is now nearly equal to the U.S. dollar, U.S. servicemen who enlist with the Australian Defense Force stand to make more money.