Dumb and Dumber

The U.S. Army lowers recruitment standards … again.

By Fred Kaplan / Slate

The Army is lowering recruitment standards to levels not seen in at least two decades, and the implications are severe—not only for the future of the Army, but also for the direction of U.S. foreign policy.

The latest statistics—compiled by the Defense Department. and obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Boston-based National Priorities Project—are grim. They show that the percentage of new Army recruits with high-school diplomas has plunged from 94 percent in 2003 to 83.5 percent in 2005 to 70.7 percent in 2007. (The Pentagon's longstanding goal is 90 percent.)

The percentage of what the Army calls "high-quality" recruits—those who have high-school diplomas and who score in the upper 50th percentile on the Armed Forces' aptitude tests—has declined from 56.2 percent in 2005 to 44.6 percent in 2007.

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My comment:

So, let me see if I understand the situation. We've "privatized" war by contracting a bunch of it out to private security companies. The Mercenaries Contractors are recruiting from the same pool of possible candidates and offering four times as much money or more (ultimately your tax payer dollars) for basically the same work without the responsibility of being accountable to any pesky rules and regulations (like the Military Code of Justice, the Geneva Conventions, international law, the laws of the country in which they serve or the laws of the United States) other than those the rules and regulations the mercenary contracting outfits feel like enforcing at any given moment. The private security outfits offer short rotations that allow their mercenaries contractors an opportunity to take a break from getting shot at awhile our military extends tours of duty and runs them back to back ... and then we wonder why all the bright ones seem to have something else to do other than serve in the all volunteer army for the love of country.

I wonder what it must be like to be one of our troops stationed in Iraq, seeing a well armored SUV load of mercenaries contractors driving around the Green Zone knowing that the mercenaries contractors are making a lot more money and can pretty much go home to be with their families at will. I bet it's a real morale boost and a sure sign to them that they have all the love and support from the folks back home with all those great "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers.

I bet they take heart knowing that some of the folks back home are willing to keep supporting them in that strange land for the next 100 years. And maybe when it's all over, there'll be a G.I. Bill to help them get their G.E.D. ... if there's any money left over from paying the security contractors.