The liberal elites show their ignorance of all things military when they say that enlisted personnel are the bottom of the barrel. During my army career I served with many enlisted soldiers who were college graduates. Some of them had advanced degrees. They all had different reasons for serving, but they had one thing in common: they were outstanding soldiers.
The military-ignorant elitists have probably never heard of the Defense Language Institute, located at the Presidio of Monterey, California. Military personnel, BOTH OFFICER AND ENLISTED, are sent to DLI to learn foreign languages, which they will use in various military occupational specialties. The soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines study Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Russian, and many other languages. It takes intelligence and mental stamina to last through the language courses, some of which last a year or more. On top of that, the soldiers have to keep current in their basic soldier skills while going through their language courses. I doubt if Bill Maher and his goofy Hollywood friends could make it through the first day.
Agreed. For another persepctive, I suggest Linda Robinson's outstanding book on the US Army Special Forces, "Masters of Chaos". It shows clearly and unequivocally that even though many of these guys are "country boys from Arkansas", to paraphrase the smooth Somalian gun dealer Mr. Otto in the movie "Blackhawk Down", they are highly intelligent, well-above average men who are highly motivated and driven to succeed at any cost. Too, most are educated, above the national average, in addition to being as fit as any professional athlete -fitter, in fact - and extremely good thinkers on their feet.
"Low-lying fruit", Maher? I think not - you're the only "fruit" in this discussion, and you are indeed "low" and "lying".
You are spot on. As a teacher one thing I've always told my unbelieving colleagues is that the American military is the greatest educational institution in the world. It can take an 18 year old high school grad and in 8 to 10 months give him an education in, say electronic technology, that would require a Masters from Georgia Tech to match. When they ask how this is possible, I respond with one word. MOTIVATION.The military develops it in boot camp and gives the serviceman/woman the understanding that they are capable of excellence and that excellence is expected.