Army Lowers (Abolishes?) Recruiting Standards

Army lifts ban on waivers for recruits with history of some mental health issues


WASHINGTON – People with a history of “self-mutilation,” bipolar disorder, depression and drug and alcohol abuse can now seek waivers to join the Army under an unannounced policy enacted in August, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.

The decision to open Army recruiting to those with mental health conditions comes as the service faces the challenging goal of recruiting 80,000 new soldiers through September 2018. To meet last year's goal of 69,000, the Army accepted more recruits who fared poorly on aptitude tests, increased the number of waivers granted for marijuana use and offered hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses.

Expanding the waivers for mental health is possible in part because the Army now has access to more medical information about each potential recruit, Lt. Col. Randy Taylor, an Army spokesman, said in a statement. The Army issued the ban on waivers in 2009 amid an epidemic of suicides among troops.

Dr. Evil wrote:I don't think we can overlook the general politicization of the armed forces as being a reason for poor enrollment. Not just the right's hard on for war, or their use of dropping bombs to score political points, but just politicization. I guess they really go hand in hand. For example, the NFL debacle. That had nothing to do with disrespecting the flag, and surely not the military. And yet our soldiers were brought into it anyways. Dissent is something that should be celebrated by the members of our military. At least when is for a legitimate cause, as it was in this case. Nobody wants to be told how to think, nor do they want to be spoken for by people who have no idea what they're talking about. Unfortunately the right has done just that in many situations.

Clicker wrote:

Dr. Evil wrote:I don't think we can overlook the general politicization of the armed forces as being a reason for poor enrollment. Not just the right's hard on for war, or their use of dropping bombs to score political points, but just politicization. I guess they really go hand in hand. For example, the NFL debacle. That had nothing to do with disrespecting the flag, and surely not the military. And yet our soldiers were brought into it anyways. Dissent is something that should be celebrated by the members of our military. At least when is for a legitimate cause, as it was in this case. Nobody wants to be told how to think, nor do they want to be spoken for by people who have no idea what they're talking about. Unfortunately the right has done just that in many situations.

Since you never served you can't possibly understand the band of brothers that is formed by the military experience. .