I don’t think this is a bad thing to be honest
Some newspapers have made a big deal lately of how low the standards have sunk for the military. Namely the Army and Marines. I think this sort of data has to be taken with a grain of salt though.
The Army admitted about one-fourth more recruits last year with a record of legal problems ranging from felony convictions and serious misdemeanors to drug crimes and traffic offenses, as pressure to increase the size of U.S. ground forces led the military to grant more waivers for criminal conduct, according to new data released yesterday
The vast majority of such convictions stem from juvenile offenses.
I don’t really have an issue with letting people in the military with some conduct issues. Heck I wouldn’t have gotten into the Navy if they didn’t overlook a few minor offenses. We all know that young people, especially boys, make dumb choices in their lives and having the ability to join the military might be a great way to help them grow as a person. Many of the dumb decisions we make as kids can end any chance at being a productive member of society. The opportunity to get college money, learn a trade and get some discipline isn’t really a bad thing. At a time when the people running this country cast the lessers to the side, It is better than nothing…
The problem is two-fold:
1. During the same time that the services took in 16,000 untrained individuals with “moral waivers” that included felonies for manslaughter, rape, child abuse, and grand theft, it discharged 12,000 TRAINED servicemen and women who had no disciplinary problems, and many of whom had already served tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, for NO OTHER REASON than that they admitted to being gay. I am sure a few of them were willing to leave, but most weren’t.
It’s ironic that the US military can make the case that gays might be prejudicial to order and discipline, but that murders, rapists, and thieves wouldn’t be.
2. This goes way, way, WAY beyond the occasional judge offering a young man the choice of jail or the Marine Corps. This is a sustained and intentional drive to recruit people for active duty to then be placed in situations in the Middle East that require instant moral decisions–to kill or not to kill, to shoot or not to shoot, to put prisoners naked on a leash or not. . . .
It further enforces the idea that ours is not a citizen service, that military service is not a social obligation, but that we will virtually impress the lower classes to fight our imperial wars for us.
It’s disgusting.
did you read the article?
dv
I’ve been following these statistics for about 3 years