Unemployment is at 9%, we’re wrapping up two decades of war, now is the time to get more selective with incoming soldiers, not less selective. How many head cases are going to make it through the kindler gentler basic training, move into a line unit and cause real trouble?
Stress inoculation is the most important part of the militarization process, it saves lives on the battlefield and saves lives after the Soldier comes home and leaves service. Part of the reason PTSD and suicide issues jumped around 2007 or so was because the military started letting lower quality candidates into the military and pushing basic training battalions to reduce the number of entry level separations. Then, the military, in it’s infinite wisdom, decided to push self-identified PTSD or suicidal ideating cases out of active duty service (to keep in service statistics cleaner) and into a broken VA system that shoveled Oxycodone at guys who needed tailored pain treatment, counseling and stability.
The brass never cared, they cared about making a few numbers in a briefing slide spreadsheet look a little better so that they would get a good OER bullet point for their career. They never met the sh#+$bags they let in, never served with them, never got up on a Saturday morning to administer corrective training, never issued live ammo to them at a range or spent a year downrange with them. It was all numbers on a spreadsheet to them.
From personal experience with my oldest, trust me, the military is being much more selective in their recruiting process.
When I joined it was: Diploma, ASVAB, clean piss test, and sign the line. Just that easy.
Way more background and information needed these days.