We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:55:16 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Well, of course it's a bad idea, right? Hmmm. Mebbe not. At least, not as bad as those who look for bad things want to spin it to be. Gosh, maybe there was some utility, in years gone by, when Judges told young offenders - "Enlist or go to jail." Mind you, it's a delicate balancing act. The services really don't want, nor need, hard-core cases. But a lot of kids get in trouble because they have poor self-discipline, are too smart, and don't take direction well, because the direction is oft-times applied badly. This is even more true as... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:54:25 -0600 Having served with a few enlisted Marines, with checkered backgrounds, that were given the choice by a judge. I must agree with John. They are certainly worth the risk. The point about the young officers leaning on the SNCOs for advice is right on target. The company First SGTs I knew where very good at spotting the ones worth saving. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72630 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72630 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:52:42 -0600 30 years ago (my how time flies) my Signal training company at Ft Gordon was getting our payday "talking to" by the Field First Sergeant - a crazy E-7 who wore 1SG stripes with the bottom rocker clipped off, an SFC with a Diamond! His little spiel was mostly routine, but one part stuck in my head throughout my whole career - "You will Never make First Sergeant or SGM if you don't have an Article 15. Just be sure is is for something minor" Ahh for the army of the 80s when I as a young Buck Sgt CQ would have to go retrieve the 1SG and a few Platoon Sgts from the drunk tank in Camp Long ROK.... Or the time my CO (1LTPromotable) was a bit miffed that he had to share a holding cell with 4 rowdy NCOs! Bad enough he was busted with us while storming the gate after the Cinderella curfew, but spending the night in a cell with us was too close to fraternization for him ;) My old first shirts both made CSM, the LT retired as LTC, and I quit early as an SSG http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72625 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72625 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:31:24 -0600 Kids make mistakes growing up...sometimes even felonious ones. The military is a great place to turn your life around and redeem yourself to society. Thank you for understanding this (I think most people in the military do). I know I do, since I am multiple-waiver guy myself. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72624 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72624 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:26:13 -0600 I would like to say 2 things: 1. That the services have always used these markers, as well as other (e.g. weight, aptitude, etc.) as force management tools. 2. I was told by an AF recruiter that this is a more criminalized and documented civilian environment than my generation faced. When I was a teenager in small town southern America, if you were caught with a case of beer, the officer would confiscate your beer and, maybe, call your father. Now days, everything is on the dash cam and the police no longer have that discretion... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72622 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72622 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:09:05 -0600 I'm waiting for the outcry over taking the poor and disadvantaged (because that's why they're criminals, ya know) and kicking them while they're down by preying upon them--I mean, recruiting them... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72619 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72619 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:26:30 -0600 Frankly, I'm a little disappointed by all the lack of reality in these news papers caterwauling about the influx of "bad seeds" and the "lowering of standards". If I had time, I'd go back and quote from the Revolution forward all of the interesting scalawags who both caused pain and performed beyond all expectations. Further, that the only reason that the "heightened" standards were put in place (regardless of any marketing otherwise) was a good way to reduce the armed forces in size by making it more difficult to get in. Thus, using work force attrition tactics (normally seen in the public sector) to reduce the size to plan and necessity without causing traumatic shortages. Of course it raised the standards, but I doubt seriously that anyone intended that the Army of citizen soldiers be made up of only the perfect without any real representation of the US citizenry, including its less educated, poor, or legally challenged. That was a short term solution. One might also remember that, if the selected service was enacted and draft ensued, those standards would be dropped even more. We are not the Third Reich, contrary to popular belief, and these men are not Himmler's SS "perfect". This is a citizens army and may it ever remain so. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72617 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/04/on_the_taking_o.html#comment-72617 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:50:27 -0600