[July 30, 2017] On a recent Friday morning I had the honor and privilege to attend a U.S. Navy Boot Camp graduation, located about an hour north of Chicago, Illinois. It was a proud day for everyone involved and it made all of us happy for those who made the decision to join the military.
But this is not what this story is about. It’s about the fact that 71 percent of young adults1 cannot join the U.S. military because they are poorly educated, obese, substance abusers, or have a serious criminal record. The number of eligible young people to enter the United States military is in decline. Frankly, this is a sad commentary on our young people today.
What this means is that the American ideal to join the military services cannot be an option to all young adults. This does not include those who are eligible to join but do not score highly enough on the entrance exam to be allowed to serve. Nearly one in four high school graduates who try to join the U.S. Army, for example, cannot pass the examination.
This limited pool of young people who can qualify for service jeopardizes our military readiness and threatens future national security. A common comment from America’s most senior military Flag Officers is that the backbone of our armed forces is the men and women in uniform. Advanced weapons systems and effort to combat modern enemies are only effective with qualified personnel.
A vigorous debate is underway on how to change the pool of potential recruits by increasing those who can qualify. This is not done by lowering standards. Some argue that high-quality early learning will provide a foundation for future success; regardless of occupation. Others say the pool can be increased by access to government-sponsored programs such as Head Start.
Regardless of the methods to achieve a greater pool of acceptable recruits for the military, the need is now. Yet, it takes time to instill the required education and cultural need to for healthier and stronger young people.2 I once told an Army recruiter that he should be working more with grade-school children; they are the ones who gain an interest at that early age.
They’ve done me one better. They now are looking at programs that begin supporting them as young as infants so that they don’t have the very problems that keep young folks from being successful. That work is with ensuring the U.S. Congress continues to support programs for our very youngest citizens. And the choices will not be easy.
The ceremony at the U.S. Navy Boot Camp was conducted with precision and the new sailors were happy to finally graduate. It was wonderful to mix among those young adults who have a bright future whatever they may pursue.
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- Young adults are defined as anyone between the ages of 17 and 24.
- A recent article on this: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/obesity-becomes-worldwide-epidemic-us-is-the-fattest/article/2629712