Army program gives poor-performing recruits a second chance

AP via Yahoo ^ | 08/28/2022 | LOLITA C. BALDOR

[DFG]

Chaz Andrews has wanted to join the Army since he was 19, but he has failed the service's academic test more than 10 times over the past decade.

Now, at age 29, Andrews thinks he has a real shot to pass, thanks to a new Army program that gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards.

“I didn’t want to give up on it,” he said during a recent break in his classroom schedule at Fort Jackson, where he is one of more than 300 recruits who have been allowed to enlist in the new Army prep course. And if Andrews, who is from Brooklyn, New York, is able to raise his test score, he will be allowed to continue on to basic training.

The program, which began in early August, is one way the Army is hoping to fill the ranks as it struggles with recruiting efforts that are expected to fall dramatically short of the goals this year. Army officials have described the situation as dire, with some predicting the service may fall 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers short of its recruiting target on Oct. 1 , or as much as 18% to 25%.

Military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the totals are preliminary and could change, said the initial recruiting goal was as much as 60,000 this year, but more realistic expectations later put it at about 55,000. With one month to go, officials are predicting they will come in about 45,000, though it could get better if there is a surge at the end.

[ansel12]

I described why earlier in the thread, it is a number of things the left is doing outside and inside the military.

[MinorityRepublican]

I didn’t mean to drag you into a discussion, and I generally really dislike getting into wordy exchanges, I guess I am mostly just thinking (or complaining) out loud but this has just about exhausted my writing energy, I kind of wish some of the history we are living through would have come along later, but all times are rough in their own way.

They will come and we may not have a choice.

[central_va]

Trump gets back in, cuts the DOD woke sh!t, fires the top brass then recruiting will return to pre Biden levels.

[ASOC]

She was a Naval aviator who died on active duty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Hultgreen#:~:text=On%20October%2025%2C%201994%2C%20Hultgreen,after%20a%20routine%20training%20mission.

[wbslws]

Actually I went to STC before basic because two other guys and myself decided that if we failed the PT Test they would not be expecting that much out of us and then we could amaze them. The joke was on us as when we were supposed to go to our basic training company, they sent us to STC. It was actually great as all we did was run and play baseball.

[Parmy]

The problem with the program was that GT requirements were dropped to allow those who's cognitive acumen was reduced to get into the military. Some probably were adequate soldiers, but al lot of them weren't.

In the case that I am familiar with the individual was given the choice to extend his enlistment to 3 years to get the MOS school of his choice. He chose to be a clerk, but couldn't handle the job so he was given another job to allow someone else fill his original slot. That meant he was carried on the roster filling a slot that needed to be filled by someone qualified.

[CodeToad]

How dumb do you have to be to not pass the ASVAB when it has been dumbed down so badly that a reasonable 6th grader can pass it?

[sergeantdave]

If you can do one sit-up in under one minute, you passed that part of FBI physical fitness test and qualify for the FBI Academy. After that you get a five minute rest to see if you can do one push-up with no time limit.

https://www.fbijobs.gov/special-agents/physical-requirements