Military Forced to Get Picky in Recruiting | Military.com
The Military.com has a great article on how hard it is for youth to be accepted into the Military service. Well worth the read.
They think anybody can enlist. Many see the military as a last resort in a tough job market — but always an option, the youth assume. Truth is, the class of 2014 now leaving high school will face more difficulty qualifying for the armed services than ever in the 40-year history of the all-volunteer force.
Military Forced to Get Picky in Recruiting | Military.com.
Category: Politics
Well, I suppose it’s a good thing that I’m waiting until after college before enlisting…
No kidding. A lot of that “last resort” mentality comes from a left-leaning educational system and media who continue to push stereotypes that haven’t been true since the draft ended if not before.
As a recruiter I more than once chuckled to myself that a kid with a 35-QT, barely passing HS, druggie, etc., thought they were God’s gift to my office.
And then reality bit them hard in the ass.
“QT”? Is that a physical score?
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/l/blafqtscore.htm
There is no pass fail on the ASVAB
You get a percentile rank, the higher your score the better you did compared to a base group of 12,000.
The one who carried a B average in HS and a couple of years at Kansas State had to take the ASVAB test 3 times to pass! Who is desperate?
DAMN! I’m a college dropout, the first time I took the ASVAB I did so with a cheap Tequila Hangover and got a 115 GT score. Coming back in after a nine year break in service, I took it while still filthy, sweaty, and stinky after a ballbuster of a day at the Shipyard i then worked at and STILL got 115 again!! I FAIL to see how one could flunk that!!
When I was on recruiting duty, called a guy like this “a rock with lips”. But they thought they were so smart.
Had a high school intern in our office who had wanted to join the Navy but had failed the ASVAB three times. She’s the same girl who tried chicken-fried steak and commented that it was kind of funny-tasting chicken. Can’t make this up….
The truth is colleges are competing with the Military for the best and the brightest.
It used to be in the Navy that if you failed out of your A school you still had a chance.
Now the options are very limited, I have seen guys that went in as nukes flunk out and end up chipping paint.
knew a coupla guys who failed German at DLI who wound up tankers, and a Marine living next door to me failed Russian and wound up headed south for training. My old roommate failed Czech and wound up an RTO. We referred to this as the “incentive plan.” Sure improved MY study habits.
This recruit from the news article: “Mauricio Lonza maintained a B average in high school and through a couple of years at Kansas State University. But three times he failed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery before he got a passing score. “Math was never my category,” said Lonza, 21. Well, Mauricio ya think! B average in high school and B average through 2 years college and nowhere in there was a little, BONE HEAD MATH!? Failed the ASVAB 3 times! What the hell did you get a B average in? Let’s guess. Gym, Black Studies, History of Basket Weaving, The ABC’s of English, Band, Choir, Pep Club, Driver’s Ed and the always favorite, gotta have it, the “YOU…Be Proud Of YOU” class. (YES! We really do have that one here locally. It’s a GPA saver I’ll tell ya!) I knew when I read this article topic that the problem was not really going to be on physical fitness or tattoos. It was going to be on getting by the ASVAB. Why? Because they, by and large, with the exception of the exceptional such as HS Sophomore, are slipping and sliding their way to graduation for that worthless diploma. You know it use to be the big thing was to be ready to take and score as high as possible on the SAT. If you could score reasonably well on the SAT you would have no problem with the ASVAB. Nowadays though, the SATs are written and scored differently so as to allow more to “seemingly” be qualified for college. It is no longer a guarantee of what you learned through 12 years of primary education. My son stayed out till 2AM Saturday morning (without my knowledge or I would have went ballistic) before his 8AM Saturday SAT exam. Under the old 1600 point system, he scored 1540! (Do I need to say I am proud of my boy. Is it really necessary? 😀 ) He told me on the way home why he was so tired and wanted to take a nap when we got home. They had had… Read more »
Oi, don’t forget about me over here!
Farflung Wanderer…Believe me, you are NEVER forgotten! Kudos!
Well, remember, it’s “college for everyone” as a birthright according to left/liberal Democrats and/or educrats these days… so what if they take seven years to graduate (or, like Lanzo, only doing “a couple of years at Kansas State University”)?
““Math was never my category,” said Lonza, 21.”
No excuse! My daughter is darn near special ed in math, had been out of school for 3 years, and still scored high on the ASVAB. It had probably been 5 years since she had a math class.
Today’s high school is yesterday’s middle school, and in some subjects, yesterday’s elementary school. What is taught goes in one ear and out the other for most students. Laura Ingalls Wilder was teaching school at 16. 99.9% of today’s high school seniors couldn’t pass the test she had to take to get her teacher’s license.
I know we did a lot of supplemental education for our kids. I will always regret not homeschooling. My daughter and her husband are determined to homeschool their kids, with my help.
I have no problem with the military tightening up on mental disorders, criminal backgrounds, and physical health standards. I have a big problem with the tattoo policy. I expect — no let me change that — I WANT the rough men that stand ready in the breach to be just that: rough, dangerous, and capable. I could give a sh*t about how pretty they are.
We have a saying in the horse world that fits here: you don’t hire a racehorse for his personality. That’s precisely the case here.
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. George Orwell
You betcha! 😉
Yup.
Military wants boy scouts, cute 5 foot nothing female smiles, and gender disorders these days. When your job is to break stuff and kill people you have to attract a crowd that isn’t Leave It To Beaver.
DoD is so worried about promoting social causes and pushing an acceptance image regarding voting blocks that mission is 2nd place now.
I dont think that tattoos make someone rough. I see plenty of girls with butterfly’s. I believe the content of the tattoo should be examined when making the determination.
But at the same time why in the hell would a 17 yo have a tat in the first place?
Because only 17 year olds try to joint the military….
That tattoo doesn’t make one “rough”, but it goes a long with a lifestyle although that is changing with 14 year tramps getting stamped these days.
Booting war fighters out because of tattoos for untested recruits is just retarded.
E4U “But at the same time why in the hell would a 17 yo have a tat in the first place?” It’s called parenting…or lack thereof.
No way I would let my kid, until they were no longer sleeping under my roof, get a tattoo. It is a lifetime decision and most high schools can’t think past what they want for their next meal.
As an addition, I have seen small children with tattoos! I mean grade school age because their parents think it is cool or whatever goes through their numbed brains to make a decision like that for a small child.
The Marine policy on tattoos is easy to defend – you look like scum if you’re tatt’ed up. You in no way look professional or responsible. You look like trash. The true warriors I knew either had no tattoos, or had ID ink that was not visible – certainly not visible in uniform.
As for toughness – not quite. Its almost become a rule that if you come from a broken family with no dad, you’ve got a tat now. Never fails. It has nothing to do with toughness, everything to do with the lack of a male role model as a kid. A visible tattoo in today’s world is the mark of an insecure conformist.
Gee – I guess this means no more “go to jail or join the Army young man” quotes from judges.
It makes sense. The military can afford to be picky again as they no longer need as many pop-up targets. I just wish that more young folks wouldn’t think of service as a “last resort”. If you can’t qualify as a burger flipper at some fast food joint what makes them think their good enough for the military?
Guidance counselors and teacher basically tell the kids that the military is the worst choice you can make and it should be your last option.
It was like that when I DEP’d in 2001 and I’m sure it is far worse now that we are at war.
College drop out rates are hilarious and it’s far easier to graduate with a bachelors degree than do 4 enlisted in the Corps yet so few actually can manage that.
http://www.4tests.com/asvab
Go ahead, take the ASVAB again
I think I’ll do this when I have time and scrap paper in front of me. I’d like to see how I’d do.
This is coming from a guy who got a 35 on the ACT, so I’m hoping I’ll do well.
Well, there’s 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Did better on the old GT, I think.
Someone earlier said that the left leaning educational system insists that the military is the last refuge of the unskilled loon.
Had a professor last summer try to say that one reason armies are bigger now is because, while warriors of the middle ages spent basically their entire lives learning their craft, anyone can use a gun.
She saw me reaction and knowing I was retired military she asked how long it would take to train a soldier to be efficient. I told her it takes over a year to 18 months to train someone to be a competent infantryman. I also told her that about 90% of the military are support roles whose jobs are little different than the civilian counterparts.
Generally, I like that the military is tightening up it’s entrance requirements again. Now if only those coming in would be well cared for, given the proper tools to do the job and be adequately compensated for serving the republic.
I read the Military.com article. Very depressing. Only 25% are eligible to join.
I live in an area of high unemployment. A friend told me that only 15% of applicants at the local Safeway grocery store pass the drug test. Regardless of how you feel about drugs you must admit there is a problem if someone can’t forgo getting high long enough to pass the drug test. Our local gravel yard no longer allows customer pick up of gravel in their yard because they can’t find anyone to operate the front loader. Again failure to pass the drug test.
I sound like an old fart but I think we are headed for Hell in a handbasket. Don’t have to have a clean drug test to drive the handbasket I guess.
Besides, there’s that new selection scoring system to contend with now:
Straight: -5
Bisexual: +5
Gay/Lesbian: +10
Transgender: +20
Years ago at an airborne reunion get-together, I noticed a sharp NCO with a “Division” combat patch and wearing senior jump wings, CIB etc. I asked him WTF? He said “recruiter duty-DA assignment.” This was early in the war when the economy was good and we were paying “mercenary bonuses,” stop loss etc.
He was pissed and said the best recruits were the GEDs. They knew how to take a test. He was a local soldier and badmouthed his high school that he had graduated from years earlier. Most of his high school graduates could not pass the ASVABs. I was and still am shocked.
The “last resort mentality/anyone can join” is pretty strong in today’s misguided youth. You can see it in their facial expression when you tell someone they’re not qualified. It just doesn’t compute. Some people just have to find out the hard way they don’t,in fact, know everything.
Between the military drawdown, and the military “social experiment” meltdown, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to join anyway. Especially any of my own family.
As for “college”. . . . .
I find it hilarious when people tell mep stories about how drunk or hung over they were when they took the asvab. The real kicker is the fact that the first thing you do when you get there is take a breathalizer. FULL.OF.SHIT.
SEA…maybe now. 30 years ago? Nope. We didn’t do drug screens for DEP physicals until 1997-98, IIRC.
NOPE, I took my first ASVAB in 1991, breathalizer? NOPE, and ditto in 2003 when I came back in! The physicals were a different story, they did test for drugs & alcohol.
Most ASVAB tests given at the MEPS are during what is considered “night testing,” with the applicants coming back the next day or later to do the physical. There is no breathalyzer given for night testing. Only same day processors (test and physical the same day) do the breathalyzer before taking the ASVAB, and that is usually done only one day a week at most MEPS.
The only differences I see from the 80’s and 90’s in USAREC are tattoos and credit card debt. Even then, tattoos became an issue in the 90’s depending on what they depicted or on the face.
Passing the ASVAB means different things at different times. When accession missions decrease, minimum ASVAB scores increase. The scores were sometimes different male versus female (31 for male, 50 for female).
GEDs meant high school dropout and was a DQ unless a semester of college was also completed. The National Guard created Project Challenge for non-grads, but RA considered those peeps dropouts too.
There was a time during the 90’s when we didn’t have active duty quotas at all, and they assigned the RA recruiters USAR quotas. That didn’t work real well.
Ritalin was a DQ prior to 2001. Same as drugs, but a DWI conviction might get a waiver. And if the judge dropped charges to go in the military? Permanent DQ if we found it.
It’s not just the ASVAB or tattoos either, 27% are rejected because they are physically unfit.
As for things like taking Ritalin as a kid, it is wise to follow the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. They don’t ask for private medical records, they only go by the physical they give you at MEPS. It’s kind of like talking to a cop, i.e. don’t volunteer any unnecessary information.
Common Sense, my first comment is that Ritalin is far, far too over prescribed. Second is that after Johnny has been on Ritalin since grade school, because you know, he’s hyper active, has no attention span and isn’t challenged. So let’s jack him up on kid approved “speed” to help his focus. Never ever say, “hey parents, how bout you use a little discipline when Johnny throws a tantrum and also get Johnny off the TV every waking moment and have him read a book to help his attention span be more than a 30 second commercial or a 30 minute cartoon”. No never say anything like that, just give him Ritalin. So Johnny stays a Ritalin zombie until he graduates, then wonders why his lack of attention span and the lack of tolerance for his anger doesn’t go over well in the military. No more Ritalin to keep him a zombie after years on the stuff. Now I understand there are kids who do need it and do benefit from it. But it has become the “mother’s little helper” of this last and current generation who basically, don’t know how to or care to learn how to parent their kids. Because they are busy being absorbed by their own little snowflake worlds of Facebook and Twitter and TV and can’t be bothered with that whole parenting thing. Let the teachers handle Johnny. He’s their problem at school and if he fails we blame them. Plus the Ritalin keeps him out of our hair at home. Now to the weight issue. We are definitely becoming and overweight society. Those same busy snowflake parents have too much going on to cook good, nutritious meals so hey, let’s just order pizza or run through McDonalds or some such for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then they wonder why Johnny is 50 pounds overweight in the 3rd grade and has to get a waiver for recess and later Phys Ed in high school. I am surprised ONLY 27% are DQ for fitness. But then again that’s better than 1 in 4 kids. Sorry for… Read more »
Well Said Sparks,
Our society thinks everything can be fixed with a pill.
The Doctors get incentives for using one pill over the other, or worse giving a drug in a case that is questionable.
Antibiotics have stopped working because they have been so over used. The same goes with most other drugs.
There are countless people addicted to Pain killers that have never had a prescription for it. How did that happen?
We have a while generation of kids who have never been outside to play. They have no chores to do, no accountability, just a hand out for the next video game.
I over head a conversation just this morning.
I was at The local sporting good place, As I was walking across the parking lot an over weight teenager with her over weight mother and bean pole dad was complaining about how far he parked from the front door. And why he could not have dropped her off then parked.
I went in and got what I needed, As i was walking to the checkout this same group was looking at treadmills. The same girl who had been complaining was talking about how she would use it and how she was looking forward to the exercise.
Right.
E4U…I wish I had a buck for every piece of exercise equipment sitting in someone’s garage. Bought with the same intentions you expressed and used for all of 5 miles worth of walking before it was relegated to “storage”. I’d be a rich guy I think. I bet the folks at the exercise/sporting goods places look at those situations and go “Cha_Ching!” because they know the folks will keep it past the thirty or ninety day return, drop dead date.
Love it. I saw that Military.com article and considered it divine intervention. I live outside Chicago, and here in the ‘collar counties’ we are far from the libtard thinking of the city. But, I grew up in that city.
I had the misfortune of running into a high school classmate. This middle-aged drag Queen has blossomed into all I expected when it was a whiny, self absorbed fruitcake. Knowing my son was KIA, it made a snide comment about how the military was for brutes, illiterates and knuckle draggers.
It went on to say that anyone who can’t get into college goes into the military. Of course, I asked it why it didn’t join, to which it responded, “I’m working on my degree in Gender Studies. At 50+ years of age. I bust out laughing in its face and wished it luck in finding a definition for itself.
Then, I found that article, the links for the ASVAB and wrote my own piece. I’ll publish in another day or so, when I can stop seeing red long enough to properly edit it, removing all references to ‘it’. Of course, I’ll send a copy to all my former school contacts, knowing ‘it’ will see and recognize itself, even in an edited version.
Sorry for the rant, but I’m still seeing red.