Old News

With the way much of the Big Media reports long-known facts about the military, you'd think that some of them just discovered gold.

Of some 32 million Americans now in [17 to 24 age] group, the Army deems the vast majority too obese, too uneducated, too flawed in some way, according to its estimates for the current budget year.

And has done so every year at least since I've been paying attention (the last twenty-five). The article lists several other factors, all of which have been disqualifiers for military service since the draft ended and the military started relying solely on volunteers over thirty years ago.

As I said before, the military doesn't want the crack/meth-baby offspring of my baby-boomer cohorts. Imagine that.

Comments

[DarkStar]

As I said before, the military doesn't want the crack/meth-baby offspring of my baby-boomer cohorts. Imagine that.

They are probably getting some. A recruiter told me that the Army has loosened up on their requirements.

[baldilocks]

Did he specify which standards? Someone posted here that the Army was taking more 'non-high school graduates.' The military refers to GED recipients as 'non-high school graduates,' which they are.

[Yeff]

Heck, lots of people still think judges can sentence you to either military service or jail.

Try walking into a recruiters office and saying, "Hi, I'm a felon!" and see how long he bothers to talk to you. He'll probably mention something along the lines of McDonald's hiring before showing you the door.

If there's one thing the military is good about it's testing their people to see if they meet a standard. That testing starts out with the ASVAB and will continue right up until your 20 year retirement party.

[DarkStar]

Did he specify which standards? Someone posted here that the Army was taking more 'non-high school graduates.' The military refers to GED recipients as 'non-high school graduates,' which they are.

He told me that the checks on graduates or GEDs are not verified and the physical ability part has more "wiggle room" than before, even though there has been a general decline in physical ability of recruits.

[Walter E. Wallis]

They always need to fill civil service slots. Betcha they still have standards for the fighters.

[Arnold]

In all this talk of lowering standards of recruits, is there any indication that the actual training has been nerfed at all?

The reason you have recruiting standards is so you don't waste money on people who might wash out. However, some of those who don't meet the entry standards may very well complete the training successfully.

The implication I read in all the news reports is that lowering standards for recruits necessarily means lowering standards for trained soldiers but that doesn't follow, unless the standards for completing the training are also lowered.

It does mean a higher washout rate, which means spending more money per trained soldier, but that's something you'd expect to happen when you move from maintaining to increasing the size of the military.

[Canelone]

Let me get this straight... the military wants the best, most capable, and most qualified for it's membership? But didn't Bill Mahr tell us all that the military was getting the "low hanging fruit??"

[Synova]

Even if the report is sort of silly I think it's probably a good thing. And if it was presented in a rather "entertaining" way... well, that's part of what news reporting is.

Maybe it will help fewer people buy into the "poor minority without other options preyed upon by the evil military machine" BS.

The ASVAB didn't seem hard to me, but apparently lots of hopefuls find it impossible to pass. And even if you don't need to be physically fit *before* basic or boot camp, you do need to be healthy. There were quite a few people sent home from my squadron with mild medical conditions that never bothered them as a civilian but made basic training impossible. They thought they could make it through basic. They couldn't.

[Silicon valley Jim]

As I said before, the military doesn't want the crack/meth-baby offspring of my baby-boomer cohorts. Imagine that.

Fortunately, there are other jobs open to them - network news reporter, lieutenant governor of California, San Francisco board of supervisors member, professor at the University of Colorado, etc.

[plain old bill]

I never finished 10th grade. Cut an 86 on the AFQT. Went into service 17 JAN 79. Retired 31 OCT 99.

I guess I was one of them "Low Hanging Fruit".

Thanks, taxpayers. It was a great 20 years!

Could I get one of them guvmint jobs?

[Cricket]

Bill Maher is low hanging fruit.
The military has held its people to a standard of excellence since the draft ended because they COULD.
Why can't the military set the standard they want for their employees and then give incentives for retention?
Bill Maher is sour grapes because he wouldn't last an hour in boot camp after a drill went through his footlocker.

[Christopher Taylor]

Well I wouldn't last one day in basic because my health is for crap so I can't really speak ill of others for that flaw.

But I do think that it would not be neccessarily so bad if some people WERE sentanced to military service rather than jail time. Not only would it be punishment for some people (at least at first) but it might help them gain a better understanding of duty, law, honor, and virtue.

[craig sommers]

Did you read this yet

Iraqi Police Find 87 Bodies in 24 Hours

[NYVETERAN]

I grew up when the draft was in effect. WE knew when we grew up we had an obligation to serve out country. If we wanted to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities this country had to offer, we had to earn them.If you wanted to complain about your government, like some of the letters on these posts, you had to earn the right to do it.You had to pass a written test, and pass the physical. I graduated from high school but a lot of guys didn't but they still did a good job. Just look at the guys who served in WW2, half of them quit school to join the army, and look at what they did. I haven't seen the military do anything close to what they did since.And if you haven't served in the military, like most of our government leaders, you ought to keep your mouths shut!

[Michael]

I'm really out of touch with the world these days (sort of loosing interest), but I wonder, is accepting a person who was not graduated from high school really a "lowering" of standards in these modern times.

Based on my service I would be willing to bet that it is probably a win-win situation in most cases.

[baldilocks]

NYVETERAN:

1. Don't become the next person that I have to embarrass in here about military service.

2. It's not your place to say what anyone should/shouldn't say especially in a space that I pay for.

[Iron Mike]

Chris,
THe only problem with your idea of sentencing some to military service is that it hurts the military! ANd the last thing you want in this day and age of fewer troops is to have some that are bitter and don't give a crap.
Mike

[Bucky Katt]

Chris sez: "But I do think that it would not be neccessarily so bad if some people WERE sentanced to military service rather than jail time. Not only would it be punishment for some people (at least at first) but it might help them gain a better understanding of duty, law, honor, and virtue."

Thanks, but no thanks Chris...I prefer to have reliable individuals who *want* to be in the military doing the maintenance on my plane...not someone who was forced in by a judge.

[Tully]

What Bucky and Mike said. Screw the military-as-punishment thing, I want willing and motivated professionals.

[babylonandon]

Another agreement on that.

Most of the people I knew in the fleet were disgruntled most of the time.

The last thing we needed was to have more (and maybe even worse!!!) criminals and scumbags around us than the ones we had to deal with or as often as not, take orders from.

Juliette, which vet did you do a "Baldismack" on?

T'were it me, I'm sorry I missed it.

[bman]

Fire base Mary ann.

[NYVETERAN]

Baldilocks,do you actually have to pay for this? Do you read some of the silly stuff some of these people write? You and some of these other people should get another hobby. Go out and look to see if some of your neighbors might need some help. There is an older couple near us who just had their car taken back by the bank. He needed new teeth and they missed a couple of payments. He's 88 years old, a WW2 vet, a Hero, and he can't get around very good.We and some of the neighbors take them shopping and anything else they need. It really makes you feel good to help somebody that really needs it. I read these posts sometimes because they are funny, and some of the soldeirs tell it like it is, some times.

[NYVETERAN]

PS, they didn't sentence real criminals to go into the service. We had a couple of guys in our outfit who borrowed somebody's car for a joy ride. they didn't hurt it at all, they just got caught. They were 18, the judge said 30 days in jail or enlist in the service. they were going to be drafted anyway, so they enlisted. And don't kid yourself, there are guys using drugs in the service right now.

[RheGirl]

NYVETERAN:

Not every government job requires military service in the resume.

Baldilocks,do you actually have to pay for this?

Of course she did. TANSTAAFL and all that.

Do you read some of the silly stuff some of these people write?

People say silly stuff all the time. Matter of fact, your previous post might seem a bit silly to some people because of how pompous and restrictive it sounds. But hey, people have their own opinions, eh?

You and some of these other people should get another hobby. Go out and look to see if some of your neighbors might need some help.

Tsk tsk. You assume much if you think those two things - blogging and helping the neighbors - are two mutually exclusive hobbies.

[Operation Yellow Elephant]

The best place to seek motivated, patriotic recruits is all those "pro-war" rallies.

As well as College Republicans and Young Republicans events.

[baldilocks]

NYVETERAN: It's not a "hobby," but that's just something else you didn't know. It appears, however, that your ignorance level is high and far-ranging.

[baldilocks]

Yellow: This old Republican and Air Force retiree says, "sell it somewhere else."

[baldilocks]

Oh, and Rhegirl: nice 'fisking!' Hopefully our friend from the Apple knows what a fisking is.

[NYVETERAN]

Operation Yellow Elephant, you got that right,except you won't see any of those guys signing up and risking their lives.And RheGirl, did I hit a sore spot with you? And Baldilocks, you shoudn't call people ignorant if you don't know them. I enlisted in the Air force inNov. 1954. I went to electronics school for 9 months to learn Airborne radar maint. Did you ever serve in French Morocco or Yokota Air Base in Japan? I did my 4 years, and then 4 more in the reserves. Then I got out and worked for 40 years in the real world. And I'm a republican,so I guess that makes me an old republican too. I don't live in the big apple, I live in northern central New York, not far from where the 10th Mountain Division is based at Fort Drum.And RheGirl I know guys with political connections who got gov. jobs, to avoid getting drafted.And there are criminals enlisting in the service today to avoid getting caught by the local police,and there are guys in the service now who are using drugs. I don't know what fisking is and I don't care to know. I do care about the young men and women who are dying every day in our military, fighting for a country whose people wouldn't fight for themselves. The Arab people have a lot more history than we do, they've always taken care of themselves. And we arn't going to change them. When we leave, if we ever do, they will do things their own way. In fact they already are, the Shiites and the Sunnis have been argueing and fighting each other for hundreds of years. Sorry I stirred up a hornet's nest, now you people can go back to argueing about how terrible it would be, drafting criminals and potheads, that we have in the service anyway. Those guys are tougher than a lot of guys who go in to get financial help for their education. Hey, just roll the dice, life goes on.

[baldilocks]

Thanks for the bio, NY, and for your service. I wasn't in Yokota, but in Misawa--long after your stint there. Like you, I am a Cold Warrior.

Since you're AF, I guess we'll have to call a truce...for now anyway. :-) Have a good evening/morning.

[NYVETERAN]

Misawa, a friend of mine went to Misawa. Cold War warrior, that's good. I've got to remember that one. My friend and I were stationed in an Air rescue squadron in Morocco in the middle of the desert. They told us if we wanted to go to Japan for our next assignment we would have to extend 2 months on our enlistment. So we did and they geruantied us to go to Japan. He went to Misawa, to an Air Rescue squadron,where they get some snow and cold, and I went to a Weather Recon. squadron at Yokota, about 25 miles from Tokyo. Our planes were the ones that flew into the middle of the Typhoons.(Hurricanes) It sure played hell on the Radar systems and Radios when they did that.Robert Lee Elliot(Mass.) and I were the first ones to work on a then secret classified Automatic Navigation system, the APN82.Baldilocks, you must have some wild and wooly stories from your full career in the service, why don't you tell us about them.(If you haven't already) excuse my spelling. Carry on, Sgt.

[loonyman]

I am surprised that Bush got in front of this - cehck this article pretty interesting

Bush Presses Guest Worker Program for Illegals

[jello]

This is notable...

Study: Churchgoing Can Add Years to Your Life