Pentagon Says Army Using More Low-aptitude Recruits

The Day [New London, Connecticut] ^ | 12/18/2005 | TOM BOWMAN & THE BALTIMORE SUN

[68skylark]

I'm glad to hear real-world views on this topic. I have little first-hand knowledge about this, so I'm glad to hear that you guys basically have a reassuring message.

[cynicom]

Eaqgle We had many that were not placeable after basic training. After APs, motor pool and cooks were filled there was no place for them.

[Siegfried The Red]

My point is that there is always a lowest category of acceptiblity. If their lowest category can't get the job done, they need to raise their standards and not accept people that were previously in that low category anymore.

If the lowest category of acceptibility gets the job done, then there's not a problem.

[chudogg]

The score is based on percentile. A score of 16 means your in the 16 percentile of those who took the test, or 84 percent of the people score higher than you.

[Siegfried The Red]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Congratulations on passing basic mathematics.

I suppose when someone mentions killer whales you're the kind of guy who has to make sure that everyone knows that they aren't really whales. Thanks, Cliffy.

It's an idiom, or maybe not technically an idiom, just a saying. So thank you so much for pointing out that you know the difference between mean, median and mode. We're all impressed now.

Jeez.

[Vision]

The increasing reliance on the lowest-scoring recruits is troubling to former officers who fear that the quality of the force will erode. They say that the increasingly high-tech Army needs even more qualified soldiers. And with troops facing more complex duties involving nation building and peacekeeping duties, good judgment is more important

Well pay more. And get rid of the ridiculous policy of taxing the salaries of our Military as they protect while living so poor they need food stamps

Destroy some huge government programs and start investing in the quality of our defense.

After Clinton, it's a miracle we've done what we have

[digger48]

If I had a picture like that hanging on my wall, I'd believe our military is useless, too. Ought to be hung for impersonating an American.

[Eagle Eye]

Definately sounds Old Timey.

Don't know about today, but USAF was always a bit different in that they would write a contract for a career field instead of a specific MOS as did the Army and Navy.

And to write a contract for an MOS requires that there be qualifying scores and an opening in training school.

[ASOC]

Please excuse me if I take the opposite view
I was in and worked with draft-related enlistees-- I was in the USAF, the #1 choice to avoid Army duty while the draft was on.

With little excption, most of the folks who fell into the "I joined to avoid being drafted" mind set were focused on 1) how little they could get away with 2) how soon they could get out.

I was glad they ended the draft, and will fight any effort to ever starting it up again - short of global war.

As for test results, it is more an indicator of basic education, not ability.

[Eagle Eye]

In the beginning...was the Mod Army. And it sucked. But they needed bodies and joining then was not a respected idea.

There were a lot of non grads and criminals in those days, not the cream of the crop.

But going from an 'all volunteer' army to a 'recruited' army (yes, there is a difference) means that nowadays the average recruit is more highly educated, more intelligent, and healthier than the average American.

[68skylark]

Some of these Category IV recruits make very good soldiers. But the problem is that the others from Cat IV tend to fail at high rates. This costs a lot of money, and has a whole ripple-effect of problems and grief.

I wish the Army could avoid these recruits, like the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard (and the Marines, too, for the most part).

[Eaker]

My father joined the Navy in about 1949.

His aptitude test said he should be a Jeep mechanic.

I have seen him try to remove a lug-nut with a pair of sissors. He has had two ceiling fans fall and one short out the first time it received power.

They made him a storekeeper at White Sands and kept him away from the motor pool.

[sinbad17]

Many of us who went into the military during WW II would most likely have flunked the tests given today primarily because many of us never went to high school. But we made pretty good soldiers and sailors and afterward many of us through the GI Bill went on to higher education. So it wasn't so much not being intelligent as being educationally deprived. I eventually attained a doctorate although I still have never gone to high school.
My point is I think they are worth a try, who knows what will make a great soldier, hell kerry was the brightest and look what he did!

[calljack]

I wrote some instruction manuals for military equipment we manufactured. The general rule was to write it at a sixth grade reading and comprehension level. And this was for a ground based portable IFF system.

[Eaker]

Please ping me.

Thanks,
Eaker

[68skylark]

I've been taught that most people are most comfortable reading text that's about 4 years behind their highest educational level. So when writing for high school grads, aim for a 8th grade level. For college grads, aim for 12th grade, etc.

If you can explain the IFF system using a 6th grade reading level -- something that's probably difficult to do, but not impossible -- I'm sure that our soldiers in the field had an easier time understanding what you wrote and using the system correctly. When the troops are cold and wet and dirty and short on sleep, anything you can do to make their job easier is a great idea.

[Eagle Eye]

The best manuals that the Army ever had we actually comic book style. It was a brilliant idea since no one really enjoys reading tech manuals or updates.

PM Magazine had a crusty old motor sergeant and voluptuous Connie Rodd as two mainstays.

We always had copies and it was a great way to get the troops to read the updates and changes.

But, of course, someone had to report it as something done because we were too dumb to read.

It was just a way to make a dull topic readable.

[calljack]

Well there is a big difference between explaining how something works and writing a set of instructions on how to use something.

[Wristpin]

Well pay more. And get rid of the ridiculous policy of taxing the salaries of our Military as they protect while living so poor they need food stamps

You need to take a look at the new pay scales. W increased all phases of pay massively during his first few years.

[TADSLOS]

To do so, they accepted a “double digit” percentage of recruits who scored between 16 and 30 out of a possible 99 on the military's aptitude test

...or put another way- The Pentagon validates America's public school system despite the resistance by many leftist public education authorities to allow military recruiters on campus in order to "steal away" their future brainwashed trusts for the purposes of becoming IED fodder.