to join the Army:

Quote :

"WASHINGTON (Nov. 3) -- Are America's youth too fat, dumb or dishonest to defend the nation against its enemies? The latest Army statistics show a stunning 75 percent of military-age youth are ineligible to join the military because they are overweight, can't pass entrance exams, have dropped out of high school or had run-ins with the law. So many young people between the prime recruiting ages of 17 and 24 cannot meet minimum standards that a group of retired military leaders is calling for more investment in early childhood education to combat the insidious effects of junk food and inadequate education."

http://tinyurl.com/yjngrak


Whatever you feel about military service, there isn't a remarkably high bar to join the Army. This is pretty fucking sad.

11/4/2009 9:15:40 PM

Or too smart?

11/4/2009 9:16:47 PM

Let's just do what Israel and South Korea does. Most people could stand a couple years of ass kicking in boot camp.

11/4/2009 9:17:39 PM

blame internet, technology, drugs, and alcohol

11/4/2009 9:17:42 PM

Honestly, the stupid part is probably more a result of people who don't want to take the ASVAB just filling out bubbles to get done early . . .


^^ Yeah, I could care less if people join the Army, it has more to do with the fact that they couldn't without at least some reasonable effort.

11/4/2009 9:19:10 PM

I thought they had relaxed the standards so much that you could get in if you had prior felony convictions (or "priors", if you will) and were a little chunky.

11/4/2009 9:19:12 PM

Quote :

"blame internet, technology, drugs, and alcohol"

11/4/2009 9:20:04 PM

they did, that article is full of shit

[Edited on November 4, 2009 at 9:20 PM. Reason : ^^]

11/4/2009 9:20:04 PM

Your comprehension skills are lacking....

11/4/2009 9:20:11 PM

These numbers are probably based on the people who tried to join. It's probably not a full representation of all people age 17-24.

11/4/2009 9:58:40 PM

^ agreed.

The rest of that demographic have an actual future.

11/4/2009 10:01:46 PM

meh

not sure what sample of 17-24 year olds they're pulling this data from, but I'm willing to bet that sample is JUST people that tried to join the Army

meaning, most of those people didn't have shit else to do after graduating high school. didn't have plans for college. couldn't hold a job. wanted to join the Army to lose weight, etc...

[Edited on November 4, 2009 at 10:03 PM. Reason : ITT, EMCE learns that it's best to read what people said above him before commenting]

11/4/2009 10:02:23 PM

that number must be bullshit, especially considering the face that most of the initial barriers can be overcame. they're work with out of shape kids, weekly PT or whatever it takes. they'll study with the asvab kids, and give waivers to some of the criminals.

the word "ineligible" implies they are barred, can't ever join...which is definitely bullshit. hell after working recruiting duty in the marines i don't even see how 75% could have initial barriers, especially for the army where their standards for entry are much lower.

and that 75% number doesn't mesh with this quote from the same article:

Quote :

"Douglas Smith of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command said 2008 data shows about three in 10 youths have an initial barrier to enlistment."

i'd like to see the data. oh wait, here's the report: http://www.missionreadiness.org/PAEE0609.pdf

wow 26% of them are obese. that's wild.

here's a better article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/04/AR2009110402899.html

11/4/2009 10:06:02 PM

Quote :

"because they are overweight, can't pass entrance exams, have dropped out of high school or had run-ins with the law."

fat - maybe you could change the max weight/ratio a few pounds, i dunno
dumb - dunno what to do about this one; you dont want to put your life in the hands of an idiot
criminal - this is the biggest problem imo; whats wrong with letting somebody into the military to fight enemies who went to prison as the result of a life of sneaking and guns

11/4/2009 10:08:24 PM

Quote :

"criminal - this is the biggest problem imo; whats wrong with letting somebody into the military to fight enemies who went to prison as the result of a life of sneaking and guns"

Many of the people that join the Army end up as MP (military police), who currently serve the role in Afghanistan and Iraq of teaching them how to deal with a Democracy... how to handle themselves as police officers... in effect, training new officers in a foreign country
I can see how they couldn't trust criminals in the U.S. to teach others how to be law abiding citizens / enforce laws

11/4/2009 10:11:19 PM

^^ word, I always thought it would make a lot of sense to take the most violent gangbanger types, ship them off to some war zone and put 'em on the front lines.

[Edited on November 4, 2009 at 10:13 PM. Reason : 2 carat gold]

11/4/2009 10:11:25 PM

Sir, I believe that you should adjust your carat

11/4/2009 10:12:35 PM

Quote :

"I can see how they couldn't trust criminals in the U.S. to teach others how to be law abiding citizens / enforce laws"

that's the point of boot camp. tear you down to the base and rebuild u up the army/marine way. works on many, doesn't on some.

Quote :

"not sure what sample of 17-24 year olds they're pulling this data from, but I'm willing to bet that sample is JUST people that tried to join the Army"

no it's the opposite, and i was willing to bet that was the case before verifying it. somebody who is grossly overweight knows he can't join, so he doesn't try. likewise for a lot of the criminals and people with health problems

11/4/2009 10:12:49 PM

I remain unpersuaded

11/4/2009 10:13:46 PM

Overweight is kinda stupid to me. Reasonably sure they're going to work if off in 90% of the cases.

If not keep 'em in boot camp another week.

11/4/2009 10:30:34 PM

perhaps banning PE and recess in k-12 wasn't a good idea?

11/4/2009 10:43:41 PM

Quote :

"Overweight is kinda stupid to me. Reasonably sure they're going to work if off in 90% of the cases. If not keep 'em in boot camp another week."

Doesnt work that way. Fatties will die at bootcamp, you just dont "lose the weight" if you are a fattie. They accept overweight people, but there is a limit, 26% body fat last time i checked. AND there is a 3% extra waiver you can get. But at some point training has a too high of risk for fatties to do becuase they will litteraly die. It happens.

Fatties.

Quote :

"Many of the people that join the Army end up as MP (military police), "

are you high?!

[Edited on November 4, 2009 at 11:10 PM. Reason : .]

11/4/2009 11:07:17 PM

NO FATTIES.

Regardless, of all the talk ITT, the numbers they 'calculated' do not represent all of this demographic.

11/4/2009 11:08:50 PM

I bet 75% of Tdub would not qual. I know alot of smart, fit, clean reccord guys who do not qual for random reasons like previous back/knee operations, current medications, asthma, vision and random obscure medical reasons. And most of Tdub is fat/lazy anyways! HA

11/4/2009 11:14:34 PM

shit i wouldn't now with my back all fucked up. but i would have when i was coming out of high school... i didn't even know the army had requirements, i thought they took anybody they could get.

11/4/2009 11:24:31 PM

and lol @ "prior criminal past" being the same as "dishonest"

for minor offenses its only people who can't afford to buy their way out that get convicted anyhow. so just replace "dishonest" with "poor" and I'll go along with it.

11/4/2009 11:29:25 PM

^ i talked to an army recruiter at length about this one day

he said it came down to if the person had the money or sense at the time to fight any bs charges they picked up, he said they let people in all the time who had charges that they successfully got out of with help of an attorney

11/4/2009 11:44:55 PM

Nah, not high at all. Are you?

FYI , I said many... not most

11/5/2009 11:35:11 AM