Uncle Sam might not want you (Army deems most unqualified to serve)

Wichita Eagle ^ | 3/13/06 | PAULINE JELINEK

[Lunatic Fringe]

And saying that young people who are pierced or tatooed were probably raised by pagans isn't?

[endthematrix]

My dad, a WW2 USN vet had a huge tattoo on his arm after a wild night in Hawaii. He always had a laugh when telling the story. "It wasn't that big in the book!"

[patriciaruth]

Have you taken your medication today?

Nitro, beta-blocker, statin--check, check, check.

yep, thanks for caring.

[codercpc]

That may have changed in the last 18 years, but when my husband was in the Army, in the late 80's, a strict weight number was what they went by. My husband has been overweight his whole life, he was able to make the top part of the weight guidelines to get in, but he was unable to maintain it. He never failed a physical, and in PT he was constantly the #1 or #2 finisher. About 3 years into his 4 year commitment, the Army started a draw down of personnel. Things like no more reenlistment bonuses, no huge incentive to reenlist, etc. They also went back to their strict weight limits, so although my husband still met PT requirements he no longer met weight requirements so they stopped all his "perks". He could no longer take leave.

His last year in the service was miserable, and he did not reenlist.

[Wristpin]

Other factors include:
"• The rising rate of obesity; some 30 percent of U.S. adults are now considered obese.
• A decline in physical fitness.
• A near-epidemic rise in the use of Ritalin and other stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Potential recruits are ineligible for military service if they have taken such a drug in the previous year."

They also weed out those with criminal records and those with histories of drug use.

[Scotsman will be Free]

Read her post again. She did not state that or imply it.

[martin gibson]

Tatoos on a lady are no different that dents on a brand new Mercedes...

tramp stamps...!

[Wristpin]

The Navy banned tongue splitting like that freak has a few years ago.

[Drew68]

It tends to filter out criminal elements.

The ban on convicted felons tends to accomplish that a little better.

[fso301]

The ban on convicted felons tends to accomplish that a little better.

Lot's of 17-18 year old criminals who either haven't been convicted of anything serious or, had juvenile records that were expunged.

That having been said, there is a long tradition of judges giving a young man in a legal jam having an otherwise clean felony record two choices, join the military or go to jail. My comments weren't so much about the person with one or two tatoos as they were about the 17 year old who shows up at the recruiting station festooned with tatoos.

Furthermore, rules are rules, orders are orders. If a recruit is unwilling to have a tatoo removed as a pre-condition for signing up, how likely will that soldier be to follow orders?

[Wallace T.]

A female who has tattooes is no lady.

[School of Rational Thought]

tatoos? Wouldn't that mean these folks would be easily led? While they may not be leaders, everyone cannot be a leader.

[School of Rational Thought]

tatoos and lady are inconsistent.

[fso301]

tatoos and lady are inconsistent.

Very true. The two are mutually exclusive.

[linda_22003]

It must make it hard to eat soup without dribbling.

[flada]

They have to drop that rule if they ever institute a draft or everybody who wants to dodge will get ink.

Or smoke a joint.

[Flavius Josephus]

Tatoos on a lady are no different that dents on a brand new Mercedes.

I was looking at a tattooed lady the other day and I thought, I don't mind if she has tats, as long as she doesn't mind if I think of her as a sideshow freak, and not quite fully human. And NEVER as a lady.

[Flavius Josephus]

I always figure I've marked my body up plenty, quite by accident, and I don't need to start doing it intentionally.

[Bigg Red]

...dents on a brand new Mercedes.

**
Dirty dents

[Flavius Josephus]

If She Tattoos, She'll Do You!