Andrew
10-08-05, 05:07 PM
Oct 07, 2005
Many Prospective Recruits Unfit to Serve
By JAMES W. CRAWLEY
Media General News Service
WASHINGTON -- Seventy percent of the young men and women who want to enlist in the military can't. They're too sick or too fat, not smart enough or have been in trouble with the law, recruiters say.
You can't join if you have an attention-deficit disorder or asthma, take anti-depressants or are overweight. Nor can you join if you fail the aptitude test or have a criminal record.
"It's having an impact on national security," said David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland.
The Army and Army National Guard likely will fail to meet their enlistment goals for fiscal 2005 when the figures are released next week.
The Army, the only active-duty branch expected to fall short, will miss its goal by about 7,000 recruits, Army officers said this week. The service will cope in part by loosening some restrictions.
The National Guard was running 22 percent below its recruiting goal during the first 11 months of the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Besides the Guard, the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve and Air National Guard likely also will have shortfalls. Only the Marine Corps Reserves and Air Force Reserves are meeting enlistment goals.
Many pundits have blamed public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war as a cause for the recruiting decline. Mothers don't want their children risking life and limb. Lengthy deployments have turned the Reserves' "weekend warriors" into frontline troops.
While that has had an impact, some recruiters said the eligible pool is smaller.
"I have more than enough people coming into the recruiting offices, but the qualified, eligible market (of recruits) is shrinking," said Lt. Col. Mike Jones, deputy director of Army National Guard recruiting in Washington.
Sgt. First Class Travis DeVall, a Florida National Guard recruiter leader in Tampa, agreed.
"It's not tough selling the Guard," he said. "The toughest part is getting the qualified people - not everyone is qualified."
Jones and other recruiters said seven in 10 who apply are disqualified because they do not meet military standards.
Statistics from the Military Entrance Processing Command suggests at least 50 percent of the men and women who are tested and examined at processing centers like the ones in Tampa, Fort Lee, Va., and Raleigh, N.C. fail aptitude or medical exams.
Before applicants visit the processing centers, recruiters cull out clearly unqualified prospects through questionnaires and practice tests.
DeVall disputed the 70 percent fail rate. He argued that his recruiters meticulously screen applicants before they sign them up. But he acknowledged that most of the walk-ins and callers who want to join the Guard are unqualified.
Military rules prohibit recruiting people diagnosed with attention-deficit disorders, depression or other mental disorders.
A Centers for Disease Control study indicated last month that nearly 10 percent of all teenagers have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The prevalence among boys is even higher - 14 percent. About half those diagnosed are on medication. The highest percentages of ADHD diagnosis in children, the report stated, were in Southern states - a key recruiting ground for the military.
Patients who have been off ADHD medication for at least a year may get a waiver to enlist.
"I get a lot of kids who say 'I only need it for school,'" said Amanda Moore, a Navy recruiter in St. Petersburg. "I have to let them down easy."
Anti-depressant drug use disqualifies many, she added.
Asthma, during adolescence, gets a "thumbs down" from recruiters. The Pentagon does not want its troops grabbing for an inhaler in the middle of firefight.
Obesity, a rising problem among youth and adults alike, also is cutting into the pool of prospective soldiers, recruiters said. A 2002 federal health study reported 16 percent of teenagers are overweight.
"It's the way society is dealing with its young people ... letting them eat junk food and dealing with their problems by doping them up," said sociologist Segal. "Neither of which is a healthy thing."
Another hurdle for recruits is the military entrance test, known as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or ASVAB.
A high score on the intelligence and skills test can mean a pick of high-tech jobs. A low score can limit a recruit's job options or bar enlistment.
"I've got high school grads who aren't passing the ASVAB," said Master Sgt. Joey Collins, a National Guard recruiting manager in Richmond, Va.
One Virginia school that he declined to name had only one student out of six earn an acceptable score on the aptitude test.
The Army relaxed its testing rules this week to enlist more recruits who scored poorly on the aptitude test. The service will now allow up to 4 percent of its recruits to score between the 16th and 30th percentile on test. Previously, the limit was 2 percent.
The Navy's Moore said rejected applicants are still useful to recruiters. She encourages them to recommend the Navy to friends and relatives who are qualified.
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Many Prospective Recruits Unfit to Serve
By JAMES W. CRAWLEY
Media General News Service
WASHINGTON -- Seventy percent of the young men and women who want to enlist in the military can't. They're too sick or too fat, not smart enough or have been in trouble with the law, recruiters say.
You can't join if you have an attention-deficit disorder or asthma, take anti-depressants or are overweight. Nor can you join if you fail the aptitude test or have a criminal record.
"It's having an impact on national security," said David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland.
The Army and Army National Guard likely will fail to meet their enlistment goals for fiscal 2005 when the figures are released next week.
The Army, the only active-duty branch expected to fall short, will miss its goal by about 7,000 recruits, Army officers said this week. The service will cope in part by loosening some restrictions.
The National Guard was running 22 percent below its recruiting goal during the first 11 months of the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Besides the Guard, the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve and Air National Guard likely also will have shortfalls. Only the Marine Corps Reserves and Air Force Reserves are meeting enlistment goals.
Many pundits have blamed public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war as a cause for the recruiting decline. Mothers don't want their children risking life and limb. Lengthy deployments have turned the Reserves' "weekend warriors" into frontline troops.
While that has had an impact, some recruiters said the eligible pool is smaller.
"I have more than enough people coming into the recruiting offices, but the qualified, eligible market (of recruits) is shrinking," said Lt. Col. Mike Jones, deputy director of Army National Guard recruiting in Washington.
Sgt. First Class Travis DeVall, a Florida National Guard recruiter leader in Tampa, agreed.
"It's not tough selling the Guard," he said. "The toughest part is getting the qualified people - not everyone is qualified."
Jones and other recruiters said seven in 10 who apply are disqualified because they do not meet military standards.
Statistics from the Military Entrance Processing Command suggests at least 50 percent of the men and women who are tested and examined at processing centers like the ones in Tampa, Fort Lee, Va., and Raleigh, N.C. fail aptitude or medical exams.
Before applicants visit the processing centers, recruiters cull out clearly unqualified prospects through questionnaires and practice tests.
DeVall disputed the 70 percent fail rate. He argued that his recruiters meticulously screen applicants before they sign them up. But he acknowledged that most of the walk-ins and callers who want to join the Guard are unqualified.
Military rules prohibit recruiting people diagnosed with attention-deficit disorders, depression or other mental disorders.
A Centers for Disease Control study indicated last month that nearly 10 percent of all teenagers have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The prevalence among boys is even higher - 14 percent. About half those diagnosed are on medication. The highest percentages of ADHD diagnosis in children, the report stated, were in Southern states - a key recruiting ground for the military.
Patients who have been off ADHD medication for at least a year may get a waiver to enlist.
"I get a lot of kids who say 'I only need it for school,'" said Amanda Moore, a Navy recruiter in St. Petersburg. "I have to let them down easy."
Anti-depressant drug use disqualifies many, she added.
Asthma, during adolescence, gets a "thumbs down" from recruiters. The Pentagon does not want its troops grabbing for an inhaler in the middle of firefight.
Obesity, a rising problem among youth and adults alike, also is cutting into the pool of prospective soldiers, recruiters said. A 2002 federal health study reported 16 percent of teenagers are overweight.
"It's the way society is dealing with its young people ... letting them eat junk food and dealing with their problems by doping them up," said sociologist Segal. "Neither of which is a healthy thing."
Another hurdle for recruits is the military entrance test, known as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or ASVAB.
A high score on the intelligence and skills test can mean a pick of high-tech jobs. A low score can limit a recruit's job options or bar enlistment.
"I've got high school grads who aren't passing the ASVAB," said Master Sgt. Joey Collins, a National Guard recruiting manager in Richmond, Va.
One Virginia school that he declined to name had only one student out of six earn an acceptable score on the aptitude test.
The Army relaxed its testing rules this week to enlist more recruits who scored poorly on the aptitude test. The service will now allow up to 4 percent of its recruits to score between the 16th and 30th percentile on test. Previously, the limit was 2 percent.
The Navy's Moore said rejected applicants are still useful to recruiters. She encourages them to recommend the Navy to friends and relatives who are qualified.
http://washdateline.mgnetwork.com/index.cfm?SiteID=wsh&PackageID=46&fuseaction=article.main&ArticleID=7574&GroupID=181