Posted on 12/29/2022 1:21:26 PM PST by DFG
After revisiting its policy on which medical conditions bar applicants from joining services, the US military for the first time has permitted 700 recruits with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to enlist, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
In June, the military, which has been facing major recruiting challenges, said that those who had suffered from 38 different medical conditions could serve as long as they hadn’t demonstrated symptoms nor required medication for treatment for three, five and seven years, depending on the condition.
These conditions – which include congenital heart defects and tuberculosis – were previously automatic disqualifiers.
The Pentagon stated that it will evaluate the performance of its new programme in six months time so that it had a year’s worth of data to analyse.
“We want to be cautious,” the WSJ report quoted Army Secretary Christine Wormuth as saying about how the service admits those with mental-health challenges. “I think we have to constantly be refreshing our approach and looking at conditions in this society,” she added.
These changes come amid one of the Army’s worst years for recruiting and as military officials are debating ways to enlist qualified recruits who have been treated for mental-health conditions.
The service fell 15,000 recruits short of its fiscal 2022 goal and it cut its goal for total number of soldiers in fiscal year 2023 by an additional 15,000, suggesting that it sees a longer-term problem, added the report.
According to Army data, only 23 per cent of young Americans meet the physical fitness, health, and other requirements and less than 10 per cent of them are interested in joining the military.
(Excerpt) Read more at firstpost.com ...
How is that different from the “behavioral challenges” faced by the entire JCS and staff?
I recall some posts sneering at the Russians for recruiting undesirables into their military. When we do the same thing, we’re being noble.
Hiring lunatics and criminals will make it easy for the government to make them attack their own people.
Being a criminal and a nutcase with a hall pass will be great fun.
The problem here is that the only people that want to join are riff raff. Yes, they have hired criminals in the past particularly when there was a draft. Not every person who has served is a good guy.
I don’t get it. When is the public and the congress going to say “enough”?
We have a president who is mentally deficient, a vice president who is...what? A fool, idiot, sophomoric?
The very best you can say for her is that she is the absolute best and perfect example of the Peter Principle. (pun not intended, but appropriate.
Add to that a military staffed with hundreds and eventually thousands of people with mental and psychological problems.
We are supposed to be the very best, but the truth is that there is no country in the entire world with a government as screwed up as ours. True the country outside of DC is a great country, but the real world is that we can not evade the craziness that infects DC, Eventually it will destroy us.
Certainly there are many countries run by evil people, but those evil people do not have scrambled brains.
The madness can not continue or it will destroy the country.
While I agree with you, military service had long been diversion for those with spotty records. So has entry level jobs. We want them to work, except we don’t want them to work.
In any case, they are looking for disposable cannon fodder.
ADHD, just who you want on reactor watch.
Whenever I go to the local NG, security is all tatted up now.
The military will take anyone now.
I bet those with “behavioral” problems are forced in by a judge. “Go to jail or Fort Benning.” But now that the military has been gutted DDIs are handcuffed from correcting their behavior.
I think we’re safer with taking folks with ADHD than with sexual dysphoria.
All’s you need is a pulse and an IQ of 70 or above and recruiter will be glad to help you.
I agree no patriot should join or stay in the military at this point. Having said that, almost half of Freepers tell me China is not capable of “taking” the small island nation of Tawain militarily and the other half tells me me China ( and Russia? ) are going to conquer the USA after crossing huge oceans an establishing beach heads in SA and NA? Which is it?
Soon they’ll be accepting criminals.
Democrats will push for a draft that includes young women. That idea will be fought - a compromise will allow the door to open for total misfits and criminals.
The goal is a strong mercenary forces NOT loyal to the United States.
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