Probably some level heads with valuable skills at the upper end of the new age bracket. Possibly prior service that got out for whatever reason after their first or second enlistment—go to college, for example. Now comes a second (or even first) chance at a Navy pension until they make their twenty years. Folks that can stand deck watch or or do traditional, demanding desks without complaint. Older folks to leaven the young people that are coming in. To “show ‘em how it’s done”...?
JM.02
That’s why the Navy recruited older men for the SeaBees in WWII. Lots of skilled tradesmen, who were out of the age brackets for the draft.