National Guard relaxes recruiting standards

[NNN0LHI]

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Army National Guard, which recently increased its age limit in an effort to reverse a decline in recruitment, is now opening its doors to less educated people.

Under a policy approved this week, the guard will accept recruits with at least a ninth-grade education, as long as they get a satisfactory score on a vocational aptitude test and obtain a General Education Development diploma within three years of signing up, said spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Milord at the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va.

Previously, recruits needed a high-school diploma or GED certificate to enter the guard, said Pennsylvania Army National Guard spokesman Capt. Cory Angell.

The decline in guard recruitment stems from various factors, including its new role as an operational force, rather than its traditional status as a "strategic reserve force." Guard members are more likely than before to be deployed overseas to assignments that include combat.

"The risks now are certainly greater," Milord said. "That's certainly a consideration with parents."

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-04012005-470797.html

[LynneSin]

1. Give it a few more months - then they'll just accept ninth-graders

:cry:

[AndyTiedye]

2. In A Few More Months, They Won't Just Ask -- It's Getting REEEAL Drafty

[UpInArms]

3. agreed, they will just send out "Greetings"

:argh:

[NNN0LHI]

5. Thats why they call it the INFANTry n/t

[Earth_First]

4. How long before they begin requiring RE-3's to active duty?

I am an RE-3 for reasons I will keep personal, however kept me from serving in Iraq. I wonder how long it will be before I have a call or visit from the DoD reactivating my discharge to active duty...

[Daphne08]

6. ...a ninth-grade education?

I was a high school/middle school teacher for almost 20 years, and if a student could progress no further than ninth grade, there was usually a serious social or learning problem.

(Personally, I don't think this is a good idea, but then, who am I?)

[LizW]

11. Compulsory school attendance laws

in every state require children to attend school through age 16. In many states it is 17 or 18.

You're right, Daphne. If a person in this day and age only has a ninth grade education, it means he went to school until at least 16, but never got past ninth grade. That is a sign of a real developmental, learning, or social problem.

The article doesn't state what a "satisfactory" score is on the National Guard test, but it must not be too high. I would think that any person who never progressed past ninth grade probably has very low reading skills, and would not be able to do very well on a written test.

I doubt that the National Guard will get very many recruits through this program, but I could be wrong.

It does certainly demonstrate how desperate they are, though.

I really, really don't want my sons drafted. It's beginning to look like we will have to start making plans for what we will do when the draft is reinstated.

[Jacobin]

7. But, it's not like Viet Nam, so stop saying that!!!

[BiggJawn]

8. Duh!

"The risks now are certainly greater," Milord said. "That's certainly a consideration with parents."

Close the window, I feel a Draft.

Thank Random Chance my daughter is allergic to bee-stings and was rejected for Guard enlistment...

[Horse with no Name]

9. Good God you alarmist--There will NOT be a draft

Those think tanks will come up with different terminology that some won't understand til they are waving to their children from a port in San Diego.
Perhaps they will call it Mandatory Middle East Vacations?
The American Tour? Operation American Deployment? Education Abroad?
Whatever it is, I highly doubt they will use the inflammatory word "draft". Cause remember Our Highest Blowhard said there wasn't going to be a draft. They'll just call it something else.

[Horse with no Name]

10. The most fearful scenario--seriously

is that they just show up at High School/College graduations with buses and take them away unsuspectingly so they don't have a chance to evade the draft--or whatever they will call it.
This regime and their practices scare me--and I wouldn't put anything past them.

[Theduckno2]

12. They will relax the standards until.....

they accept people that didn't wish to enlist. Having just read an article about it the other day, I am inclined to believe that a system of obligatory national service would be introduced. Empire has its costs.