Should we be so selective with the people who want to be in the military at this time?

We should be very selective.
I select any congressman/senators children to be on the front lines of any war we fight.

I think we are more or less selective depending on how much cannon fodder we need at any given time.

We should have manditory military service in this country; a two year stint after high school. If everyone had sons and daughters, nieces and nephews in the military we would be much more careful about how we used the military.

@stump : Hold up. I don’t want to be forced to go into the military after highschool.

Who the hell said the Army are “beggars??”

@troubleinharlem It would be good for you. Get or keep everyone in shape. Meet a lot of people from all over the country.

Who the hell said the Army are “beggars??”

As @janbb wrote, they get “more or less selective” as their needs change. For example:

February 14, 2007 – More recruits with criminal records, including felony convictions, are being allowed to join the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, as the armed services cope with a dwindling pool of volunteers during wartime. Fox News

But now, apparently, they have more than enough recruits, so they can be more selective than they were in 2007.

@jaytkay

And your point??

@CaptainHarley : It’s a figure of speech – there’s no need to get all up in arms about it or anything.

that was punny.

Yeah, letting antisocial people into the marines sounds like a great idea. I’ve never met a sane marine.

@bolwerk They’re not that hard to come by. One of my cousins was a Marine; he seems perfectly sane.

I fully approve of having high standards for military service.

Would that we had the same standards for Civil Service and public office.

The military is not nearly selective enough as it is.

Considering that they apparently employ trigger-happy psychopaths who can’t help but shoot 6 Libyan villagers, including a kid, while rescuing downed Air Force pilots.

A great way for you to know would be to serve. When your side by side 24/7 with peeps you’ll understand why some selection is needed. Maybe you could add insight to the selection process. Good day

Our military is supposed to be a modern, professional fighting force. I support the idea of entry being selective. Hell, I support the idea of entry being much more selective.

Each branch of the military has to be selective because if they are not, then it endangers the lives of everyone around them in the military. I have been waiting on enlistment for the air force since November and I agree completely that many things should be required before someone is allowed to enlist.

@tigerlilly2

Good for you!

I agree with the idea of it being more selective. The recruiting standards weren’t being strictly adhered to since the Iraq invasion, and a lot of people with histories of criminal behavior got in there. The result was a lot of high profile thuggish behavior that represented the US.

It’s a tough situation admittedly, finding enough recruits vs. getting the best possible recruits.

The problem is “the best possible recruits” usually have other opportunities open to them. Recruiting standards were being adhered to; however, the recruiting standards fluctuate. There was a time the Army was the only branch who would accept a GED instead of a high school diploma. When a whole bunch of people got patriotic after 9/11 and decided to join the military, recruiting standards were raised because there were so many people enlisting or wanting to enlist who had high school diplomas or college degrees they no longer needed to “take anyone who walked through the door” so to speak. I would guess with unemployment being so high right now, people who would not have joined the military before are willing to join. Back during the Vietnam war, my mother said half the people she knew (she was in the military) had the option “join the military or go to jail.”

@bolwerk I would guess you have not met that many Marines.

I never understood the GED requirement, given that it’s equal to graduating high school.

@optimisticpessimist: You would guess wrong. Indeed, most people who have started fights with me have been either guidos, marines, or guido marines. :-\

FYI: it’s unclear if Marines fired on the Libyan villagers from the rescue helicopter. They flatly denied it.

But then a harrier jet (or two?) apparently dropped 500 pound bombs in the area by the villagers because, apparently, some dumbass thought this would be a good way to rescue the downed pilot. So the wounds are probably from these bombs’ shrapnel.

@bolwerk Now that you have you an ethnic slur, that makes it all better.

It’s not an ethnic slur. “Wop” would be an ethnic slur. “Guido” is more a fashion than an ethnic matter. (A fashion that is far from exclusively Italian, BTW.)

I guess that really depends upon how and where you were raised. It does not really matter anyway as seemingly you have a tendency to lump groups of people together instead of seeing them as individuals based upon your comments on this and other posts.

@optimistic: not at all. I just am aware of this silly little things called trends. Nothing about data trending makes people less (or more) individual. (Notice, BTW, I never said “all marines are not sane.”)