Before you toss me overboard and kick me to the curb over the title let me elaborate on what prompts me to make that statement and sound that alarm.  CNS News reported a statement issued by the United States Marine Corps Commandant regarding the low percentage of our youth that is qualified to join the military.  He said it was less than 30% and if that is even remotely accurate that is alarming!    General Robert B. Neller told Congress that recruiting was incredibly difficult today because of the incredibly low numbers that are qualified and of those qualified few are interested in serving.

I was impressed and encouraged when he said that 99.7% of those who join the Marines are high school graduates.  In today’s digital world, the youth are technologically savvy and are being impacted heavily by video games and social media.  Some are impacted positively, and their skills can translate to abilities useful in the military and others are affected negatively and rendered unqualified for military service.  He also said that 62% of the Corps is 25 years old or younger.  That is encouraging and troubling at the same time because of the inexperience and lack of fundamental development of sound judgment that often only comes with age.

The reasons for not being qualified include physical, mental, and moral issues.  The Pentagon released a report that stated that 71% of the 34 million 17-to-24-year-olds do not qualify for military service!  The reason for their being unqualified included:  health, physical appearance, education, and ethics.  We have an epidemic of youth and adults who are obese, there is a growing number of those without a high school diploma or a GED, far too many are convicted felons or drugs (prescription or recreational) and lack of allegiance to the United States of America.  The report stated that only about 1% of those in that age category are both eligible and willing to have a conversation with the military.  That makes the pool incredibly small in seeking to keep our military strong and our Republic safe!  

This situation has resulted in some branches of the service lowering their standards in order to fill the numbers needed.  That is frightening or should be!  It is reported that about 180,000 men and women volunteer for and enter active-duty forces each year and the lower standards have resulted in only 79% having a high school diploma in 2007 as compared to 90% in 2001.  The trend is continuing, and we are headed toward a situation where we will have a very uneducated and otherwise unqualified military force in the years to come.  Can we afford to allow men and women in the military who are not physically, mentally, or morally qualified to protect and defend this nation? 

According to the Defense Department’s spokesman Nathan Christensen, the military has a ‘zero-defect mentality’ and they evaluate each applicant from a ‘total-person perspective.’  We need a certain number of warm bodies to serve in our military to function minimally, but quantity can never replace quality.  Through years of experience, we have learned that the qualifications of military personnel must include: knowledge, education, aptitude, skill, and motivation.  The most important qualifications are identified as being: Aptitude (as measured by the AFQT – Armed Forces Qualification Test) and a high school diploma; and Good Physical Health and Moral Character (e.g. no criminal record).  I readily acknowledge that our military has not always demonstrated those characteristics and character qualities.  I readily acknowledge that during the draft we threw the net over a very large swath of personnel and got some very bad eggs to go with some very good ones.  But today, we have a Voluntary Military and that demands that we have the highest quality individual possible.

About 24% of the Air Force enlisted personnel are female and virtually all jobs in the Air Force are open to women.  The Defense Guidance says, regarding Education, that at least 90% of non-prior service accessions must have a high school diploma.  Regarding Aptitudes, a minimum standard must be achieved in terms of the categories of the AFQT:  Cat. I 93^rd – 99^th percentile; Cat II 65^th– 92^nd percentile; Cate IIIA 50^th– 64^th percentile; Cat IIIB 31^st– 49^th percentile; Cat IV 10^th– 30^th percentile; and Cat V is below the 10^th percentile.  What does that mean?  Those in Category V are ineligible to enlist by this statute.  No branch of the service is allowed to enlist more than 20% Category IV recruits.  At least 60% of the accessions should be Category I-IIIA.  No branch service should enlist more than 4% of Category IV, and all should be high school diploma graduates.

There are concerns and requirements regarding health including being free of contagious diseases and/or STDs as well as being free of mental health defects or issues that require medication, counseling, or institutionalization.  The moral issues are of concern to the military and the focus is largely judicial restraint (bond, probation, imprisonment, parole, etc.).  Those previously separated from the military with discharges that were less than honorable or for the good of the service are ineligible.  The age requirement is 17-35 and must be a citizen or a permanent resident and if married having no more than 2 dependent children under the age of 18 years.

I have offered a lot of fodder to get to a small bit of grain in this article but what I hope you see is both the importance of our military for our National Defense and the dangers of the modern youth snowflake movement in America.  With the Progressive, Liberal, Leftist academia, the Entitlement mentality, the lack of discipline, the decline in two-parent families, and the growing physical inactivity we are rapidly becoming a society dependent on technology and more and more are lacking ability and skills to do things WITHOUT that technology.  In War, and I can attest to this, you must possess a certain level of physical and mental ability to survive.  I served in Vietnam and some of those serving were not as committed to the task at hand as they needed to be and endangered the rest of us.  We knew who they were and took steps to cover our backs when they were going to be involved.

I support our military and will defend them whenever and wherever I can.  I appreciate their sacrifice and commitment and have little respect for those who trash them.  We are the Home of the Free because of the Brave men and women who have served protecting and defending our Freedom.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!  Parents we need to ensure that our children are physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally fit.  I want no one in the United States Armed Forces who is not 100% committed to the Constitution and the Republic.  If you embrace any religion or political ideology that seeks to overthrow the United States, then I do not want you to be allowed to serve.  When I was in Vietnam my mother sent me an article from the newspaper regarding those “burning their drafts cards” and “protesting the war”.  The article said, “Send them to Vietnam.”  I immediately wrote back, “Please don’t send them over here we don’t need to be watching our backs fearing attack from those supposedly on our side, we have enough of that with the Viet Cong posing as South Vietnamese patriots.”  If you disrespect the Flag, the National Anthem, the police and our military I respect the fact that you have a constitutional right to your opinion and some actions but do not ask me to honor you or even respect you.

Lovers of Freedom, American Patriots, and Defenders of the Constitution the task is before us to fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom.  We need to instill in the youth we have influence with the qualities needed to keep America safe and free.  Therefore, I implore you to become an intercessor and to REMEMBER NOVEMBER and prevent the Democrats from reclaiming power in Congress.

God bless you and God bless America!