WAR: US Army Raises Enlistment Age Ceiling

The Army recently raised the age for new recruits to the Army Reserve and National Guard to 39. This is considered by the army to be a three-year experiment. The Army is hoping to take advantage of those older potential volunteers who were ineligible solely due to age. This new age range of recruits is said to promise maturity, loyalty and patriotism.



While the Army has declared this to be an expirement of three years it is safe to expect this change to become permanent. The Army further said that it is likely to raise the ceiling again in the future. This change comes at a time when the Army is missing its recruiting goals and has been offering "lucrative" re-up offers to its regular core of soldiers.

This move smacks of desperation if you consider that the Army has said it is hoping to gain more maturity and loyalty from an older class of recruits. At this point the Army is the only branch to have instituted this change. It would appear that other branches are not as desperate for recruits or re-ups; and that is likely directly correlated to the probability of injury/death resulting from service in the Army versus the Navy or Air Force.

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Come on now, you mean to tell me that noone has an opinion on this? This is a stop-gap solution to increasing the Army roster. Compulsory service could be next...

I Believe it was posted before. Not sure where the link is but I'm sure it was an ATSNN article.

Here you go:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Thanks Jonna for posting that link. I did not see an ATSNN article so I posted this one. I know the mods say that non-ATSNN and ATSNN threads can co-exist so it's up to them if they want to close this one.

yeah, that sucks....

Now I can't use the excuse of "well I wanted to join, but i am too old"

well screw'em... i just wont volunteer... and it is now because they are cutting VA benefits... yeah... cutting VA benefits... that is the ticket....
those bastards... they cut VA benefits....

Laz

I wonder if the military is taking in consideration that most of our adults members in this nation are overweight.

How much is going to cost to put recruits in shape during their exercise camps.

Our military is hurting and this is a sign of it.



[edit on 22-3-2005 by marg6043]

First - they have to send them to the pre-enlistment fat farm, then they will be ready for basic training. For those that are uncorrectable and remain in the plus size department, they will be given rocket boosters so that they can storm enemy sites and then sit on the enemy crushing the life out of them with their accumulated lifetime of McDonalds hamburgers and french fries. For special operatons, they will be told to swim to shore and act like elephant seals.

ACKKKK LMAO that was a good one Chuck...

squash them... that might work...

Join the few, the proud, the morbidly obese...

Good find.

...This does look like it is a lead-in to a backdoor draft (through the Select Service). ...If Bush declares a National Emergency, like for a flu pandemic, people can be drafted into the Select Service, then into the military from there.

marg said
I wonder if the military is taking in consideration that most of our adults members in this nation are overweight.

How much is going to cost to put recruits in shape during their exercise camps.

Our military is hurting and this is a sign of it.

Bet the weight and physical requirements change as well. Fat=clerks. Skinny= infantry. You'll see lots of physically fit soldiers getting fat real quick when this happens.

Originally posted by soficrow

Good find.

...This does look like it is a lead-in to a backdoor draft (through the Select Service). ...If Bush declares a National Emergency, like for a flu pandemic, people can be drafted into the Select Service, then into the military from there.

Soficrow, I believe that under current law the National Guard is called into service for such an operation. The National Guard is supposed to report directly to the governor of each state. However, I am on the same page with your statement about the backdoor draft. This is merely a way to increase the population of available soldiers in order to avoid reinstating the draft. And don't forget, in three years, the Pentagon said it's likely they will increase the ceiling again.