Newswire:

Army Standards Dropping Like They’re Hot

Life’s not so good for the Army these days. Manpower shortages, sagging recruitment and retention rates, and overextension of troops are all taking their toll.

Apparently, the Army is so desperate that they’re now granting felony waivers for those accused of terrorist and bomb threats. [CNN]

As of 2007, the challenged Army recruiters had already taken drastic measures, though none this drastic. Let us remind you of the standards in 2007. [Mic Check]

• 79 percent of Army recruits hold HS diplomas, down from 91 percent in 2001.

• Age restrictions are more lax, with 2,000 new recruits in their forties (the Army had to raise the age for enlistees from 35 to 42).

• Twice as many scored below average on the armed services qualification test as the year before.

With these standards already at a low, the next logical step was to extend felony waivers to recruits with shady backgrounds.

“Recruits were allowed to enlist after having been convicted of crimes including assault, burglary, drug possession and making terrorist threats.” Wait, what?

You read that correctly. Two individuals convicted of making terrorist or bomb threats were granted felony waivers in 2007, and one was granted a felony waiver in 2006.

Bottom line: There are current Army soldiers who have been convicted of making terrorist threats, in addition to 509 soldiers receiving felony waivers granted in 2007 for crimes from drug possession to assault. Our force is in trouble. [CNN]

Hmm… maybe we should restrict our fighting to wars that actually make us safer.

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