US Army Raises Enlistment Age

[Lobotomy Boy]

Show me a real threat to the nation rather than this terorist puppet theater and I'll show you ten million americans signing up to bear arms.

I'm with you there. In the event of a serious attack on the U.S. and if I was needed and wanted by the military, I'd load up on ibuprofin, lie about my gimpy foot, and fake it long enough to get in. I supported the war in Afghanistan, and if called up I would have served there. Iraq, on the other hand, seemed like an ill-conceived disaster waiting to happen from the fall of 2002 on.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

No disrespect to Harley, but it sure is nice to see another American manufacturer giving them some competition, (As opposed to ExHen v2.0 and Indian v2.0). And those Vegas-family bikes sure look sweet.

I tested all the Victories, ExHens, and Indians for various MC magazines (mostly Motorcyclist), and the new Vegas-based Victory models are the first that can truly compete with Harley. I've ridden bikes built by chopper builders from Discovery channel television shows that are much more refined than the Indians with Harley-clone engines (they were some of the worst motorcycles I've ridden since the bad old days of AMF Harleys). The ExHens were really pretty good bikes to ride, but their reliability was dismal. The early Victories weren't much better, and they looked like butt smells. The Vegas-based bikes, especially with the new 100/6 powertrain, are some of the best bikes on the market. I just wrote a new book on the history of muscle cars, (Muscle: America's Legendary Performance Cars), available in late March, and if you all go out and buy lots of copies I should be able to afford a new bike this year. I will be shopping either a Harley or a Victory. This is the first time in my riding life that the best choices have been between two American manufacturers.

 

[Biker]

Gotta love competition. It's good for everybody. Go U.S.A!
Biker

 

[Ezekiel]

But then I'm biased.

Graduated Basic at age 32.
Graduated Air Assault School at age 51.
Finally retired at age 53 1/2.

"Jump school at 51?" Damn. I am seriously impressed: at both your desire and accomplishment. I just turned 34 and I don't think I could complete Basic!

 

[wingman]

Not to start a "board war" however we need the draft if in coming years
this country wants to remain free. A two year service requirement would give
some basic skills and give a force that could be trained in short time
when needed. I would be happy to hold the door open to Canada/Mexico
for anyone not wanting to be drafted. Overall it's too crowded anyway.

 

[stevelyn]

With the Army raising the enlistment age, it would appear that all is not as rosey on the recruiment goals front as we've been led to believe.

 

[roo_ster]

Just a thought here. There's a reason recruiters tend to chase the high school kids, aside from young boys in need of a career. Youngsters tend to have more, umm, "pliability", a certain tendency to obey orders given by authority. Lots of folks who've already been out in the world, taking care of homes and families are gonna be tough nuts to crack in Basic. How much extra time is it gonna take to try and remold someone who's been his own boss for 20+ years? I'm sure they'll figure it out, but still....

I'm not sure I'd buy that particular pig in a poke.

I think that the young 'uns are the best targets/candidates for recruiters because most are:
1. Healthy & resilient
2. Unencumbered by spouses, children, real estate, etc.

From my experience, yes, the young 'uns right out of high school lack experience. A lot of them also lack discipline, maturity, motivation, and direction, all of which drill instructors work mightliy to instill. Nowadays, a whole lot also have an irrational anti-authoritarian mindset that sees any/all authority as illegitamate.

It is not about being a "tough nut to crack in Basic." It is about instilling discipline, maturity, motivation, martial spirit, morality, and such to those who may lack one or more of the aforementioned traits. If you go to Basic with most or all of those traits, Basic is not a particularly difficult or wrenching experience. It is more of just another challenge to slog through. BTDT. If you go to Basic without them, you will have a bit more trouble and growing up to do...and a short time to do it.

Older recruits with experience usually are inducted at a higher rank than a recent high school graduate, E-2 to E-4, vs E-1. This is to indicate that the service understands that that particular recruit brings more to the table.

When I went through Basic, I wasn't the oldest, but was definitely in the older half. Strangely, none of us "codgers" quit or were found unsuitable for service. We also had fewer problems that required "counseling" and were less likely to freak when under stress. Imagine that.

 

[TABING]

"Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill."

I'm over the 40 limit, but couldn't we do rear echelon jobs, freeing up younger guys to do more frontline operations?

 

[TrapperReady]

"Jump school at 51?"

Air Assault School is not "jump school". Air Assault deals with helicopters, and when you leave the aircraft, you remain attached until you hit the ground (unless something goes wrong).

 

[Alex45ACP]

Not to start a "board war" however we need the draft if in coming years this country wants to remain free.

Sounds like an oxymoron to me. A draft is when you're forced into battle at gunpoint. Another word for being forced to do something at gunpoint is slavery, and it is incompatible with freedom.

 

[Deadman]

I'm SOL unless they raise it to 55 or something

The Australian Army has had an enlistment increase from 35 to 55 years of age for a while now...

 

[Biker]

The Australian Army has had an enlistment increase from 35 to 55 years of age for a while now...

Whoa!!! OD green walkers??? Geritol in the MREs? CAMMY Depends? Viagra for the weekend Furlough?







Biker

 

[JMusic]

A friend of mine recently stated they should draft all the old guys and send them to Iraq. His theory is why waste the youth of this country. You lose an old guy one less social security check to send and so forth. He also said it couldn't be any worse than a week in Sturgiss! He may have a point, its all I can do to stay 5 days in Daytona for bike week.
Jim

 

[Phyphor]

I ride a 1949 Harley-kick start only- with high compression pistons, bored, stroked and cammed, so my right leg is probably better than anyone else's right leg now serving active duty - unless they can kick start a Bradley.
And - don't ask me how I know - I'm still pretty damned good at low-crawling.
Biker

What, are you planning to punt the mullahs?

 

[Working Man]

I ride a 1949 Harley-kick start only- with high compression pistons, bored, stroked and cammed, so my right leg is probably better than anyone else's right leg now serving active duty - unless they can kick start a Bradley.
And - don't ask me how I know - I'm still pretty damned good at low-crawling.
Biker

I wasn't a big fan of kicking over my 79 KZ.... snapped me in the shin now and
again (I had a bad habit of using the ball-toe crease of my foot when in a hurry).

Do you find yourself walking in circles with a beefed up leg like that?

I think having a little more tempered blood out there is a good thing. If they
find the right people they could have a good mentoring type set up. War is
more than knowing how and who to shoot... it's the little things that make
the difference.

 

[beerslurpy]

Older guys are better when they volunteer because they go into it knowing what to expect. I can tell you that as a guy about to turn 30 (next monday) I am a lot more determined about law school than I would have been at 18 or 21. Why? Because I know myself and I know what I am getting into and I know the match is good. Same with 30+ year olds who sign up for military duty. They know what it is about and they know it is what they want.

Now try to conscript a 30 year old and that determination works in the opposite direction. A decade of self determination and a hard work have given him a lot of things to live for and he is accustomed to living his life as he sees fit. He is going to be the guy saluting you for the snipers and trying extra hard to avoid medals so he can get home alive. Imagine the average vietnam draftee with an extra 12 years of life experience under his belt.

High school type recruiting is predicated on the innocence and idealism of teenagers. The type of things a teenager will beleive will not work on a 30 year old. An older man will walk through the recruiting door himself if he is a good candidate.

 

[Biker]

Working Man...

You may have nailed it. I always figured that I walked in a wide circle because one of 'the twins' was a bit more developed than the other.
Biker

 

[CAnnoneer]

Methinks the way things are going with the civilian grofazen in WashDC, US Volksturm may be only a matter of time... The Nazis drafted 14-65, IIRC. Let's see where the neocons drag us.

Now try to conscript a 30 year old ... He is going to be the guy saluting you for the snipers and trying extra hard to avoid medals so he can get home alive...

ROTFLMAO

My guess would be a lot of the grofazen will go down with 8mm lead poisoning, if it comes to Volksturm. Americans are not known to goosestep very well...

 

[Working Man]

You may have nailed it. I always figured that I walked in a wide circle because one of 'the twins' was a bit more developed than the other.
Biker

LOL.... "the twins"... that's what I call my dual Beretta setup.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

I say that we let anyone who wants to join that mess in Iraq willingly go and choose their MOS without any shell game or BS at the MEPS with their paperwork.

Better a dedicated fighting force than a disgruntled one, if we have to be involved in this fuster cluck, that is.

Obviously, ARMY press releases are just so much spin. You can't rely on the gubment™ to tell you the truth, but you can rely on them to tell you what they think you need to hear. These are recruiters talking here.

 

[armoredman]

Wow, I can go back in the military, 20 years after I went to boot camp the first time? Gee. My question is, if this is the enlistment age, is this also the concription age, if the draft is reinstituted?

 

[MinScout]

I'd heard on the radio that they had raised the age to 42. In which case I could still enlist. I'm in pretty good shape yet, but I don't think I could tolerate having some 25 year old drill sgt getting in my face at this point in my life. I'd probably clock him.

 

[telomerase]

When I saw the title, I thought you meant they were raising the minimum age. Guess they'll still be depending mostly on the young and clueless.

 

[Art Eatman]

I ain't goin' unless they got Ensure Plus in the messhall.

Alex45ACP, with ten guys supporting to one guy fighting, there are philosophical objections to the Draft, but no real physical ones.

I dunno. I just figure as good as this country's system has made it for all of us, putting a couple of years back into it ain't no big deal. I did four years, four months and nine days--not that I was counting--and it wasn't all that such-a-much. Danged near wound up in Vietnam before it quit being French Indo-China, for that matter...

Art

 

[palerider1]

did they really make the new enlistment age 42????????????????????????