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CptSternn · 04-26-2006, 07:50 AM

Really?

Army to Lower Bar for Recruits
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,2086091.story

US Army Lowers Recruiting Standards Due To Iraqhttp://www.parapundit.com/archives/003026.html

How low can Army recruiters go?
http://www.slate.com/id/2133908/nav/tap1/

Army lowers recruit standards
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/n...n/14282888.htm

It is accepting more from a reject pool and granting more waivers for criminal convictions and drug use.

WASHINGTON - The Army is taking increasing numbers of applicants it once judged substandard.

The percentage of recruits once rejected - and now accepted - on account of criminal convictions, drug use or medical conditions rose to 15 percent in fiscal 2005 from 10 percent in 2001, service statistics show.

The Army also is taking more recruits from a pool it judges least-qualified, based on education and scores on a cognitive aptitude test. Army Secretary Francis Harvey said up to 2,873 of these applicants would be taken this year, 16 percent more than the 2,476 in fiscal 2005 and an increase of 131 percent over the 1,245 taken in 2001.

The practice runs counter to the Pentagon's plan to increase its numbers of Special Forces, skilled technicians and linguists - soldiers able not only to defeat an enemy but also to stabilize conquered nations through cultural awareness and street-level diplomacy.

"They're quietly trading quality for quantity in the interest of getting their numbers up," said Cindy Williams, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor specializing in military personnel policy. "It's a very troubling trade-off."

Harvey told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that the Army in the first four months of fiscal 2006 used up two-thirds of its annual limit of recruits from its pool of those least-qualified - and that limit was doubled last year.

The few, the not-so-proud, the waivered in.

04-26-2006, 07:50 AM	#16
CptSternn Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 4,587	Really? Army to Lower Bar for Recruits http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,2086091.story US Army Lowers Recruiting Standards Due To Iraqhttp://www.parapundit.com/archives/003026.html How low can Army recruiters go? http://www.slate.com/id/2133908/nav/tap1/ Army lowers recruit standards http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/n...n/14282888.htm It is accepting more from a reject pool and granting more waivers for criminal convictions and drug use. WASHINGTON - The Army is taking increasing numbers of applicants it once judged substandard. The percentage of recruits once rejected - and now accepted - on account of criminal convictions, drug use or medical conditions rose to 15 percent in fiscal 2005 from 10 percent in 2001, service statistics show. The Army also is taking more recruits from a pool it judges least-qualified, based on education and scores on a cognitive aptitude test. Army Secretary Francis Harvey said up to 2,873 of these applicants would be taken this year, 16 percent more than the 2,476 in fiscal 2005 and an increase of 131 percent over the 1,245 taken in 2001. The practice runs counter to the Pentagon's plan to increase its numbers of Special Forces, skilled technicians and linguists - soldiers able not only to defeat an enemy but also to stabilize conquered nations through cultural awareness and street-level diplomacy. "They're quietly trading quality for quantity in the interest of getting their numbers up," said Cindy Williams, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor specializing in military personnel policy. "It's a very troubling trade-off." Harvey told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that the Army in the first four months of fiscal 2006 used up two-thirds of its annual limit of recruits from its pool of those least-qualified - and that limit was doubled last year. The few, the not-so-proud, the waivered in.