I am very disappointed that the format for this new "Corps" program has restricted age levels for basic participation. We have so many returning veterans who had already paid for so much that will not be able to qualify for the priviledge to participate. They may be able to do a leadership role but then how do they do that? And who will pick the one in every several hundred who would like to apply.<br /><br />I have had several AmeriCorps persons work through our Emergency Management office and I was directly responsible for them. There is way too much red tape and ridiculous hoops to go through to comply with their program. Especially when the local depts are strapped for funding and staff to do even more. Which by the way will be the ones to train these applicants for the real world of emergency management, not to mention just showing up for work on time.<br /><br />Give me a returning veteran any day over a college student.<br /><br />The budget part of it? They are saving money but it is at the cost of more work for those who are giving most of their paychecks back to their communities to keep programs like the Citizen Corps Councils and CERT and MRC alive. I don't see a even a moderate benefit to this new concept as it is presented. Alot more time and work that will come off those who are already overwhelmed at the office. When it comes to who will replace our aging (and I am one of them)emergency managers, I vote for the volunteers who have come time after time with no rewards in sight to step up behind me and carry on the tremendous work load and community committment. The Americorps people that we have had for the last four years, we train them and then they leave our communities for higher paying jobs cause we do not have the funding to keep them. And the cycle repeats. And we just do more work.