Most of Our Youth Don't Qualify For Military

I think most Americans believe it is easy to qualify and join the military -- that all a recruiter needs to do is convince a young man or woman to sign up and it's pretty much a done deal.   That's the way it should be.   But the statistics of how many young people actually qualify should be a source of concern for Americans, because the number is pathetically small.

In 2009 a Pentagon official testified before Congress and his testimony was shocking.   This official said that 75% of young people had a problem that would prevent them from applying for or being accepted into the United States Military.   They either lacked specific physical abilities, had a criminal record, or did not have the required high school diploma.   But it gets even worse.

It turns out that not everyone in the remaining 25% would qualify for admission into the military either.   According to Education Trust, about 23% of that quarter cannot score high enough on the entrance test to enter the Army.   To be accepted into the Army a youth must be able to score at least a 31 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery [and even higher for other branches of the military -- Marines (32), Navy (35), Air Force (40), Coast Guard (45)].   The highest score possible on the test is a 99.

That should worry the hell out of all of us.   Let me repeat those numbers.   Only 25% meet the general requirements, and 23% of those can't pass the entrance test (and that's for the Army which accepts a lower score than other military branches).  

The first 75% shows this country has some serious social problems -- crime, obesity, too many drop-outs, and other problems.   But the 23% of those who can't pass the entrance exam, but have a high school diploma (and no criminal record or physical affirmity), shows that our educational system is failing to educate a lot of young people.   Here's how the Education Trust puts it:

In every state in America, the military turns away remark-ably high percentages of applicants who, despite their high school diplomas, lack the reading, math, science, and problem-solving skills needed to serve in the armed forces.

In addition, because the ASVAB specifically assesses readiness in a wide range of vocational pathways, it’s equally likely that the men and women who don’t pass the test are unprepared for the civilian workforce.

The military recommends that examinees take a solid core of courses in mathematics, English, and science to do well on the exam. But, clearly, the K-12 system has not responded with a sufficiently rigorous course of study, depriving many applicants of the knowledge and skills they need to serve.

And sadly, it's about to get worse in most states.   As the recession continues and state budget deficits grow, education funding is taking a hit.   Teachers are being laid off and class sizes are growing, among other school problems.   Many of our politicians seem to have the attitude that the educating of our youth -- our future -- is secondary to tax cuts for the rich and other silly things like that.

The fact is that in this modern world nothing is more important than educating our youth.   The day is long gone when education was a luxury -- it is now a necessity.   We are failing our young people, and the recession (with its budget deficits) is no excuse.   And the future of America is put in jeopardy by this failure.

U.S. Army To Recruit Foreigners

It looks like the United States Army is still having trouble recruiting soldiers for its illegal occupation of Iraq and its poorly run war in Afghanistan. They have already reduced academic standards and even begun accepting felons and gang-bangers that they would not have even considered a few years ago.

But it looks like the radical dropping of standards has not been enough. This year the Army will try to recruit 1,000 foreigners who possess only a temporary visa to be in the United States. In the past, a foreign-born recruit must have had a green card. If the foreign-born recruits with temporary visas do well, they plan to expand the program to the point these recruits will make up over 16% of the Army's soldiers. Next year, the program will probably also be introduced to other branches of our military services.

Those that sign up will be offered an accelerated path to citizenship. They can become citizens in a matter of months. Otherwise, it would take them years, if allowed to become citizens at all.

The Army claims it will allow them to recruit those with needed language and cultural knowledge. I think that is just a cover for getting overall numbers up. The current language and cultural needs are Pakistani and Arabic, but only 3% of immigrants living in America are from the Middle East, and since 9/11, the Bush administration has cut severely the immigration from that area. The excuse for the cut is fear of admitting terrorists.

About 55% of all immigrants are from Latin America, and it only makes sense that most of the recruits will be Spanish-speakers. The point is that Americans are very opposed to the occupation of Iraq, and fewer and fewer qualified Americans are willing to put their lives (or their children's lives) on the line for it.

The answer the Army has come up with is sort of like the French Foreign Legion. Let foreigners fight the wars that citizens want no part of, and award them with citizenship. The only difference is that we do not separate the foreigners in our military (at least not yet). It's bad enough that it has come to this at all, but a separation must not be allowed to happen or those will become our "suicide" forces.

It would not have come to this, if we had limited our fighting to self-defense or prevention of genocide -- wars that can be defended and believed in. We should never have invaded Iraq and tried to force our ways on them militarily. It was wrong to do so. Yes, Saddam was a cruel dictator, but we allow dozens of such dictators to exist without making war against them. We even give economic aid to some of them.

It was wrong for us to invade Iraq, and it's wrong for us to occupy that country. We need to withdraw our troops immediately. I know President Obama has said we will withdraw within months, but that is not soon enough. It has become obvious that we cannot solve Iraq's problems, so we need to leave so they can begin to do so.

Every day we stay in Iraq costs more innocent lives -- many of them Americans.

Pickings Are Slim For Recruiters

The United States Army needs to recruit about 80,000 new soldiers each year to keep the forces at the current level. The United States Marines need a few less. However, it looks like both are having trouble filling their quotas.

Both the Army and the Marines are now having to lower their standards. A few years ago, neither would have accepted anyone who had been convicted of a felony. But in 2007, the Army granted 511 felony waivers. That is more than twice the 249 it granted in 2006. Meanwhile, the Marines granted 208 in 2006 and 350 in 2007.

They have granted waivers for such felony crimes as assault, burglary, drug possession and making terroristic threats. However, the Army swears it doesn't grant waivers for crimes like sexual violence, alcoholism and drug trafficking.

What is really ridiculous is the reason the Army gives for lowering their standards to accept criminals. The Public Affairs Department said that only 3 out of 10 Americans of military age "meet all our stringent medical, moral, aptitude or administrative requirements."

Do they really expect us to believe that nonsense? The truth is that the huge majority of Americans, including those of military age, are opposed to the war in Iraq. Most of us don't see the sense in sending more young people to die in Iraq, when we know that nothing is being accomplished there except the enrichment of huge corporations.

Personally, I support and admire the young men and women who have served in Iraq. They are not the ones who blundered horribly -- that was our leadership in the White House. These brave men and women are just trying to make the best of a very bad situation they have been put in.

But I fully understand why most do not want to join them over there. Our current leadership is far too foolish and short-sighted, and have demonstrated an unholy willingness to sacrifice lives for corporate profits.

Army Still Having Trouble Getting Recruits

Bush can lie to us if he wants to, and tell us how well the war is going. But it isn't going well and everybody knows it. There may be a few less American deaths in the last month, but there are still far too many deaths and far too little being accomplished -- and the American people know it.

That's why the Army is having such a hard time filling its quota of new recruits these days. The Army has told us they have been filling their quota recently, but they don't tell us how they've been doing it.

Turns out they have been accepting people with criminal records. They are now allowing people to join that a couple of years ago they wouldn't have allowed anywhere near an Army base. The harder the quota gets to fill, the more serious the crimes they are willing to forgive.

They are even accepting gang-bangers. They are giving them weapons and combat training, and no one seems to think about the fact that they'll be back on our streets again someday. Only they'll come back trained to kill and traumatized by war. I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

But evidently, even accepting criminals isn't getting the quotas filled. Now the Army is going to start a program that will pay new recruits a bonus of $40,000. They were already offering $20,000, but now they have decided to double it. All you have to do is sign up for a five-year enlistment (and live through the war). The bonus will be paid at the end of the five years.

If this war was truly about defending America, I doubt they would be having this much trouble finding recruits. But Americans know the truth. Many citizens bought into the "defending America" lie at first, but now they know the war is only being fought for oil and Bush's pride. Neither is worth the life of an American soldier.

It does make me wonder what'll be next when the $40,000 bonus doesn't work. Just how much is Bush willing to pay for soldiers to fight his dirty little war?