In today’s Wall Street Journal, an article “ Recruits’ Ineligibility Tests the Military” states that according to the Pentagon, only 29% of Americans, aged 17-24, qualify for military service because of physical, educational, or behavioral shortcomings. During World War I and World War II, while the criteria were different, the percentage of acceptable youths was 50%. In that era, a high percentage of youths were disqualified because of being underweight, poor eyesight, or poor teeth. Only a minority of Americans had access on a regular basis to doctors and dentists.
My on-going reaction is that unless we take drastic remedial steps we cannot expect most of our countrymen to qualify for meaningful employment if so many cannot even meet the standards of our military.
A breakdown of the deficiencies: 28% medical (overweight and mental),
8% drugs, and 31% overlapping issues. While precise figures are not available, the Pentagon believes that the ineligibility level is higher than any time since America gave up the draft in 1973.
Each year, about 180,000 young men and women successfully volunteer for America’s active-duty forces. An additional 110,000 join the services’ reserve and National Guard units. Individual services manage their own recruiting and have the authority to grant waivers to applicants who don’t meet broad standards.
When the military faced escalating foreign engagement in recent years, recruiting standards were loosened: In 2007, only 79% of those who enlisted in the Army had completed high school, compared with 90% in 2001, while the Army also accepted recruits with more excess body fat during the height of the Iraq war.
Obesity—people 50 pounds overweight—is the single biggest reason for disqualifying new recruits. About a quarter of high-school graduates also can’t pass the Armed Forces Qualification Test, which measures math and reading skills, Gen. Youngman said. “They aren’t educationally qualified to join the military in any capacity, not just the high-tech jobs,” he said.
Tattoos are another reason for disqualification. The army has banned tattoos on the face, neck, and fingers. In addition, a soldier cannot have more than a total of four visible tattoos below the elbows and knees. One also cannot have gaping holes in the earlobes.
More and more I feel out of touch with today’s America. I am in a state of disbelief when I read about polls that show an appalling lack of knowledge about our country’s history. For example, a high percentage of Americans do not know the time period of World War II or who America won its independence from. Furthermore, I have a hard time naming some 40 countries whose students score better than Americans on global examinations. In brief, even the people serving me are so far above the “average America” that I cannot truly assess our nation. In brief, I live a very cloistered life.
