Posted on 12/10/2016 5:55:39 AM PST by AC Beach Patrol
Short (2:30) video of WSJ interview with General Mattis on why young people should join the military
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The main reason I joined ROTC in college was to p*$$ off the hippies on campus.
General Mattis is a brilliant and logical thinker. No question at all about that.
General Mattis is a brilliant and logical thinker. No question at all about that.
I went to a military college. ROTC was two hours “off” during the week.
My worthless school district which was by far the richest in SC at the time never had one until a couple of years after I graduated HS.
There were a lot of us that would have done darn near anything to get it. Alas no.
Another reason I have no love for my old HS and not going to reunions.
for later reading.
Remember that ROTC is for training Reserve and Active Duty Officers. And while that is essential, what is also essential is that the better the recruits are for the enlisted ranks, the better the trainee and training can be, and the better the junior NCOs who will fill the ranks.
However, today, there is a profound problem with recruits who are overweight, out of shape, and insufficiently educated. Fixing these problems steals an unacceptable amount of time from their military basic training, and ends up forcing standards to be lower.
But a very cost-effective means can be used to get *potential* recruits up to standards, before they enter basic training, so their time can be spent on training, not remedial repair.
The US government could dot the nation with small, 100 acre pre-training camps for *potential* recruits who are below standards. The potential recruits would wear civilian clothes, live in surplus tents, sleep on surplus cots, and be trained by veterans. The two biggest expenses would be for individualized meals, and a nurse on staff for any minor injuries.
Each camp would be surrounded by a high double chain link fence, mostly to keep unauthorized people out. Attendance would be entirely voluntary. And any disciplinary infraction can result in expulsion. It is a “one time, sink or swim” opportunity.
Each camp would be subdivided into three parts. The first would be for weight loss. The second for physical conditioning. And the third for remedial education. There would be program overlaps for those in need of two or three things.
Likewise, there would be different cycle lengths: a short cycle, for remediation that could take place within a month; a medium cycle, for two or three months; and a long cycle, from four to six months for those who need a lot of work, but are skilled in a critical specialty.
The cost of running such facilities would be relatively marginal, but the results in improving the quality of recruits would be noteworthy. This means *raising* the quality standards of both enlisted basic courses and advanced specialty courses.
As an aside, the best time for starting such a system of pre-training camps is right now, as there are very large numbers of experienced combat veterans to act as leaders.
I thought ROTC was in college only,not high school.
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There was at least one or two in my county.
High schools have Junior ROTC. ROTC is a college scholarship/officer training and commissioning program. (My oldest did one year or JROTC and wasn’t impressed. He also completed ROTC and is now an AF 1Lt.
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