[tame]

Please read and support my letter.

[Old Sarge]

Sarge's Recruiter PING, and thanks to Tame for a good thread.

Calpernia: Any thoughts?

I can do ages 17 to 35 years + 364 days. And that's without prior service.

[airborne]

Do I correctly assume that you have gone to a recruiter and have been denied?

[tame]

Please read and support this open letter i wrote.

[Conspiracy Guy]

39 my butt. I'm 50 with prior service, USAF 72-76, I want to serve too. I'll clean toilets or carry an M-16. I don't care I just want to serve again!

[zboa]

I too tried, they smiled and shook their head NO.
I'm 43, in fair shape but no prior. If I would have joined, looking back on it, I would have saved myself about 7 years of hell.

[bayourod]

If you're willing to drive a gasoline tanker truck you're better than some younger ones we now have. Good luck.

[Edison]

There are many jobs in the service that do not require you be fleet of foot of sharp eyed so why not allow others who are perhaps over the combat enlistment age to join in other capcities. I believe in WWII the cutoff was over 40. Perhaps 45 if you were single.

FWIW, I was very active up to 40. Surfing, skiing and desert motorbikes. I did not feel I was too many steps behind the young guns and definitly able to contribute to the cause.

Edison

[JFC]

The hope of the YOUTH Springs ETERNAL

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

I'm 56 and served four years in the US Air Force (1970-74.) I don't really want to go back, but I am interested in having my wife (53 years old, no prior experience) serve. Her mother is also available and knows everything.

[sasafras]

I would seriously consider waiting till after the election to join the miliitary. If the demoncrats steal this from Bush, I wouldnt serve under Kerry. In fact get ready for the draft if Kerry is elected because many will be getting out and not joining. The whimpy lilly white libs that scream about the draft of course wont be stepping in to help their president, John Kerry.

[dakine]

You're too old....

[El Gran Salseron]

With all due respect, sir:

The military age requirements have little to do with physical age/weight.

They have more to do with mental attributes.

Let me explain:

Young people are aggressive, foolhardy, think life is forever, etc. As one ages their perspective on life changes. They become more cautious.....some would say, "Not as brave." They become less agreeable to being told what to do and "more set in their ways."

Case in point:

During WWII the Navy was getting very few "kills" from submarine commanders who were "older" full Commanders and even full Captains.

When they relaxed the requirement that skippers be at least full Commanders to the point that skippers could be much younger Lieutenants is when the submarines of both the Pacific and Atlantic started getting many "kills" and the destruction of the fleets of the enemy was complete.

I'll present the following as an example:

From a personal standpoint, if I were to go back into the military as an E6 and at my age, I would have an extremely difficult time, ( if I could do it at all, ) having some 22-year-old-snot-nosed-Ensign-fresh-out-of-the-academy-who-is-already-full-of-himself-anyway telling me what to do when there is NO doubt that I know better than he does. :-) See what I mean?

So, you see, it is more than just a physical age or weight requirement.

Just my 2 cents.

[tomnbeverly]

But will you fight for John Kerry's wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time with no funding to support your equipment becasue it costs too much and its more important to save some trees here in America and create big dig like government medical programs that have been proven to fail in other countries around the world and cut 100,000 jobs and raise taxes first on the small buisness and then on everybody else and by the way that little old war over this is just one big mistake anyway because we need to get back to where terrorism is such a nuisance..

NOW WILL YOU FIGHT?

[PsyOp]

I think what we need is some kind of military auxilliary corps for those of us prior service (and not), who may be too old, out of shape or otherwise unable to meet the general requirements of the military.

We may not be able to hump a rifles and rucks all that effectively these days, be we can act a perimeter guards, truck drivers, clerks, and a host of other support roles that coud free up trigger pullers who can. I checked on going back in, but was told that I would have to lose a lot of weight first (too many years sitting at a computer).

I may not be able to walk far with an M-16 these days, but put me in a guard tower with one and I garantee no bad guys will get near it (I shoot straighter now than I did on active duty--more practice on my own time).

Besides, I figure a year in Iraq would be a great weight-loss program.

[Calpernia]

How about signing up with

UNITED STATES NATIONAL DEFENSE FORCE SUPPORT
http://www.usndfscom.com/

Or

UNITED STATES of AMERICA VOLUNTEER HOMELAND SECURITY SERVICE CORPS

* ARMY SERVICE BRANCH *
http://www.usndfscom.com/usavssc_app.htm

[Doc-Joe]

I'm with you. I was medically retired last year, after 12 years. I joined during the Gulf War. Unfortunately, training kept me from the Gulf during the action. I had a major stroke (complete fluke) during the past couple of years and ended up getting discharged in 4/03. I WANTED TO GO TO IRAQ. I've completely recovered (physically), but am now ineligible to serve. I can't even join the reserves.I guess I am a health risk. :(

[PsyOp]

A friend sent me this e-mail today. Thought I'd post it on this thread since it so appropriate...

---

Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 8:30 PM
Subject: draft the old guys

Sending Old Men To War

If I could, I'd re-enlist today and help my country track down those responsible for killing thousands of innocent people in New York City and Washington, ! DC But, I'm over 65 now and the Armed Forces say I'm too old to track down terrorists. You can't be older than 35 to join the military.

They've got the whole thing backwards. Instead of sending 18-year-olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys.

You shouldn't be able to join until you're at least 35. For starters:

Researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more that 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.

Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. If we can't kill the enemy we'll complain them into submission. "My back hurts!" "I'm hungry!" "Where's the remote control?"

An 18-year-old hasn't had a legal beer yet and you shouldn't go to war until you're at least old enough to legally drink. An average old guy, on the other hand, has consumed 126,000 gallons of beer by the time he's 35 and a jaunt through the desert heat with a backpack and M-60 would do wonders for the old beer belly.

An 18-year-old doesn't like to get up before 10 a.m. Old guys get up early every morning to pee.

If old guys are captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd probably forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.

We'd make better tank and convoy drivers, too. All that experience we have negotiating rush hour traffic, avoiding speed traps, and dodging kids toys in the driveway will make negotiating roadside ambushes a snap. We'd give road rage a whole new meaning that would scare the hell out of terrorists.

Boot camp would actually be easier for old guys. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at and we actually like soft food. We've also developed a deep appreciation for guns and rifles. We like them almost better than naps.

They could lighten up on the obstacle course, however. I've been in combat and didn't see a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training. I can hear the Drill Sergeant now, "Get down and give me...er...one."

And the running part is kind of a waste of energy. I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet. Besides, that's what trucks, jeeps and helicopters are for.

An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to actually carry on a conversation, and to wear pants without the top of his butt crack showing and his boxer shorts sticking out. He's still hasn't figured out that a pierced tongue catches food particles, and that a 400-watt speaker in the back seat of a Honda Accord can rupture an eardrum (we won't have to worry about losing our hearing during a firefight, most of us are already deaf).

All great reasons to keep our sons at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off to possible death.

Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten cowards who attacked our hearts on September 11. The last thing the enemy would want to see right now is a couple of million old farts with bad attitudes and nothing to look forward to but a nursing home where they feed you through a straw.

Better to go out with our orthopedic shoes on.

[JoeSixPack1]

Throughout recorded history of mankind, children have fought our wars. Please consider investigating why.

As you obviously have aged beyond 17-25, you have afforded yourself the capitalistic opportunities denied those young men and women who give their prime years in service to our US military.

Please consider using your private sector experience in assisting returning veterans re-acclamate to a successful civlian life if they so chose.

That is worth more to our nation than an aging combatant with a lot of fight left in him but nobody hiring.

Semper Fi

[Teacher317]

I'm considering the JAG upon graduation from Law School. I've been assured that the age limit can be waived if I'm in decent health. (I'm 35 now, will be 36 at graduation, and 37 at deployment) JAG is basically non-combat, so that is probably a significant factor.

Of course, my interest will wane significantly if I have to spend November 3rd slack-jawed.