If this generation's young men would enlist in large enough numbers to fill the small military needs of our present, then we would not be forced to accept the first time enlistments of boomer grandmothers.
Publicity stunt BS. Not that her service isn't noble and valuable, but if you really think we're falling so short on recruiting that we have to go out and find Grandma's, you're smoking something.
BTW, before the next time you lecture an X-er who served in the volunteer military about the vaunted patriotism of the Boomers, you might want to consider the reasons that many of those young Boomer men volunteered. A man who joined up served less time (2 years vs. 3, IIRC) and was far more likely to get into a technical specialty and learn a trade. Also, if one preferred a certain service it was best to volunteer rather than taking a chance. This was especially true of the Air Force and Navy, which received far fewer draftees than the Army and Marines.
In other words, many of these men signed up for the same reason that X-er and Gen Y men haven't signed up: To avoid an unpleasant term in the military and serve their own wishes.
"BTW, before the next time you lecture an X-er who served in the volunteer military about the vaunted patriotism of the Boomers,"
Both your posts do that, a straw dog response. I haven't lectured anyone, much less generation X veterans such as my son that served in the 10th Mt.
" A man who joined up served less time (2 years vs. 3, IIRC) and was far more likely to get into a technical specialty and learn a trade. Also, if one preferred a certain service it was best to volunteer rather than taking a chance. This was especially true of the Air Force and Navy, which received far fewer draftees than the Army and Marines."
The draftee served the shorter time, not the volunteer, and the air force and navy did not draft.
The army and marines have changed their enlistment requirements out of necessity, not because letting 42 year old women in was a publicity stunt.