and it doesn't even mention drugs
Posted on 02/25/2018 7:30:23 PM PST by SeekAndFind
With all that’s going on in this report from the Free Beacon, it’s amazing that our military is still hitting all of its recruiting goals. But somehow they are.
They don’t have all that many people to pick from, however. Just as the military is entering into a period of renewed expansion, there are fewer qualified candidates and even fewer expressing an interest. According to the Pentagon, if every person in the country age 18 to 24 showed up to apply, roughly three out of four would have to be turned away because they simply couldn’t qualify.
Nearly three-quarters of young Americans are ineligible to serve in the United States military due to obesity, criminal record, or lack of education, according to a new report by the Heritage Foundation.
The contracted pool of Americans aged 17 to 24 who are fit to enlist in the armed services poses an “alarming” threat to national security and risks derailing the Trump administration’s path to rebuilding a depleted military, the report found, citing Pentagon data.
The Pentagon estimates that 24 million of the 34 million Americans between 17 and 24 years old, or 71 percent, are unable to serve.
Health problems are the greatest obstacle to military service, with more than half of the young people who are ineligible for service suffering from a health issue.
This is particularly bad news at the moment because the Army is getting ready to recruit up to 80,000 new soldiers in the coming two years. The Navy isn’t quite as hard up, but they’re going to need 30,000 more sailors. All of this recruiting will be required to expand the service in line with the plans put in place by President Trump.
So what is disqualifying so many of them? For the majority, it’s health issues. Of those, more than half are too obese to be accepted. (The Army is saying they’ll take you if you’re “a little chubby” but if you’re seriously obese there won’t be time in basic training to whip you into shape.) Others are showing up with joint problems, respiratory ailments and related issues. Others failed to graduate high school or get an equivalent degree and are refused entry until they can meet the educational standards.
Other people hoping to enlist have criminal records. If it’s a couple of minor items you can sometimes get a waiver, but if you’ve run up any sort of serious criminal background they have to reject you. (As they should.) This is a big change from the bad old days of the Vietnam War when it was still not all that uncommon for a judge at sentencing to offer a defendant a choice of jail or boot camp.
The other problem the military is facing is a rather ironic one. Unemployment is nearing historic lows at the moment and that’s traditionally when fewer people turn to the military for a career. If better paying (and, frankly, less dangerous) jobs are plentiful, fewer young people are looking to the armed services as a better and more secure alternative to stocking shelves at Walmart. But with luck, enough of the truly dedicated and patriotic ones will keep their noses clean, work themselves into shape and volunteer to serve their nation.
“it was still not all that uncommon for a judge at sentencing to offer a defendant a choice of jail or boot camp”
And virtually all of those kids went on to serve honorably and then continue on in life as great people. Know a few, mostly Vietnam vets, and they’re all normal Americans.
The military made a lot of kids grow up. It doesn’t have to be filled with choir boys.
and it doesn't even mention drugs
Basic training motivation platoons work wonders with the minimally qualified.
Don't take your eyes of that iPhag, young ones! Might miss an Instafart or Facef*ck post.
A long time ago a guy would be given a choise. Prison or the military. Jimmy Hendricks was supposedly given such a choise.
Time to reinstitute the draft.
a sign of tyranny is whenever 10% or more of the population is considered a convicted criminal
... and it doesn’t even mention drugs...
Or, the slackers and dodgers.
Our professional military has very high recruitment standards and fitness is only one of those high standards.
Recruits must be able to pass some pretty comprehensive testing intended to evaluate their native intelligence and to determine both the level and the range of their education and skill sets.
Our professional soldiers have a combination of superior physical skills, above average intelligence and above average levels of eduction.
I am past age of drafting and am in better shape tham most younger people.
Pray for America
Units are supposed to fix these PT losers when they arrive at their duty station.
Generals don't want women in combat units, they are out of options and can't recruit enough males.
They are very good. It was an honor to have served with so many patriots.
8 years of Odungo will do that to a country
Obesity can be fixed.
It’s a sign of immorality.
Well, back in the 60’s Gunny Ermey talked about how the problem was they just didn’t have time to gently whip these future warriors into shape so they had to act mean. Now I should think it would take longer, give them a better, more educational basic training. If that’s what they need. The kids are the same. Let’s look at the training.
Not hiring kids because they’ve used drugs is ridiculous. It’s on AFTER they join that it becomes the military’s business. So yeah, I would say rejecting candidates because they have the remnants of that joint they smoked with their essay last week is a bad idea.
I remember a few potheads whose folks gave them the ultimatum - move out of the house or join the army. From what I’ve heard, it did them a world of good.
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