The military-civilian "disconnect"

aristotle · Feb 21, 2011

Politico.com has a headline article today on what our national defense leaders call the "disconnect" between our civilian population and US military personnel. It's a pretty good summary and hits the obvious points to be made. One statistic that jumped out was 75% of today's youth who are eligible to join the military by virtue of age would be disqualified for reasons of being physically unfit or has had problems with drugs or crime. That only leaves 25% to be drawn upon, if the stats are correct. I find it quite unsettling for three-fourths of our nation's youth to be outside acceptable standards. What, if anything, does this say about the generation coming of age?

greg334 · Feb 21, 2011

Not much.

I think back in the 30's the same case was made that we could only depend on 35% of the male population under 35 wasn't fit to fight. In 1941, even with the influx of volunteers, the rejection rate was something like 21%. Even going into '43, they had to raise the age for recruits while lowering the standards a bit to maintain the training numbers. Many who were unfit for actual combat service was place in supportive roles, one really important reason why there were 4 men to support each on in combat.

One of the biggest obstacle isn't with the physical condition of the kids today, it is their mental condition. The insubordination is still one issue but one thing that isn't mentioned anywhere but is now getting attention are adults who were given anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drugs that were never tested or approved for use in children. This can have a serious impact on the military and society at large if it is not controlled.

scottm4211 · Feb 21, 2011

Maybe it's time to take a look at the standards being used?

aristotle · Feb 21, 2011

scottm4211 said:
Maybe it's time to take a look at the standards being used?

The standards for military service aren't the problem. The problem is 75% not being able to meet minimum standards.

layoutshooter · Feb 21, 2011

Military standards are TOO LOW. Women should HAVE to meet the EXACT same physical standards as men do, AFTER they are raised.

There are many who are too mentally weak as well. Too soft a life for far too long.

There is also a BIG marksmanship problem. It was bad years ago and is getting far worse. One of the reasons the NRA and DCM were formed was to insure that there was a pool of people who knew how to shoot a rifle.

Brisco · Feb 21, 2011

greg334 said:
One of the biggest obstacle isn't with the physical condition of the kids today, it is their mental condition. The insubordination is still one issue but one thing that isn't mentioned anywhere but is now getting attention are adults who were given anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drugs that were never tested or approved for use in children. This can have a serious impact on the military and society at large if it is not controlled.

I have to somewhat disagree.....

The "mental conditions" that a lot of these kids supposedly suffer today was/is not caused by untested narcotics, it is mainly caused by the wiping of their assses/coddling that the majority of the parents do when it comes to their kids nowadays.

scottm4211 · Feb 21, 2011

I wasn't inferring that the physical standards be lowered but I wonder how many are excluded because they were busted for pot at 16 or something similar.

layoutshooter · Feb 21, 2011

Don't forget that stupid self esteem stuff. Far too many parents praise kids for things like, waking up in the morning or sneezing. Kids need to be pushed, challenged. A good normal life SHOULD include many bangs, cuts and even a broken bone or two.

Kids need to FAIL. They need to WIN. Keeping score is IMPORTANT. Failure teaches as much or more than winning does.

The more DIFFICULT things a kids gets good at the more self confidence he/she/it EARNS. A kid with a good dose of self confidence will whoop the pants off of one of those high self esteem weenies every time.