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WASHINGTON – It’s tough enough selling military service to teenagers. And the fact that enlisting today could very well mean a visit to the front lines doesn’t help, either.
But according to a new report, there are other factors that make recruiters’ jobs even more difficult: the country’s poor education system and the worsening obesity crisis.
About 75 percent of the country’s 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for military service, largely because they are poorly educated, overweight and have physical ailments that make them unfit for the armed forces, according to a report issued Thursday.
Other factors, such as drug use, criminal records and mental problems, contribute to what military leaders say is a major problem that threatens the country’s ability to defend itself at a time when the all-volunteer force is already strained fighting two wars.
To combat the problem, a group of retired military leaders has joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan to call for greater investment in early education, which advocates say helps boost academic achievement and social development.
“We are very concerned,” said retired Army Maj. Gen. James Kelley, a member of Mission: Readiness, the Washington non-profit organization that issued the report.
“We do have the greatest military in the world – we have the greatest planes, the greatest tanks, the greatest ships – but the key goal is having great people. Right now, we’re attracting very highly qualified folks but that could change over time.”
The report, “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve,” comes after the military had one of its best recruiting years since the draft ended in 1973.
During the budget year that ended Sept. 30, the military met all of its recruiting goals and had a higher quality of recruit than in years past.
