Army opens prep school for dropouts to fill ranks

[Cavguy]

Sounds like the plot of the comedy "Renaissance Man"

"It's academic immersion," explained Col. Jeffrey Sanderson, chief of staff at Fort Jackson, home of the Army's largest basic training school. "Our studies show that with only three out of every 10 people of military age being capable of joining the Army, we are going to have to do something different."

That includes turning six World War II-era buildings at the base into a mini-campus of spartan classrooms and barracks. Under the yearlong pilot project, classes of about 60 soldiers will enter the monthlong program every week.

[carl]

I know this will never happen but; if we opened a recruiting office in Mexico and offered a green card or citizenship at the end of say...10 years satisfactory service, (or any other stipulations you cared to add) we would have a very large pool of people to choose from.

[jmm99]

who is high on basic education, this doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Seems there had to be something like that in WWII - I'm on and off reading Ken Burn's book.

Also seem to recall a Korean War study that suggested that infantry had to be smarter than the average bear - and the smarter ones survived better.

If it helps recruiting - more power to it.

The stats (3 of 10) don't say much positive about the US school system, do they; and as to the physical and legal health of that age cohort.

But Sanderson said the Army's own studies show that only 3 in 10 people ages 17 to 24 are eligible to enlist, with the remainder barred by health or legal issues, or the failure to earn a high school diploma or equivalent.

Truth in lending: I have a small economic stake in seeing the recruiting programs of all four services do well.

[Old Eagle]

1. Some of you will remember that when we actively signed up "losers" because we thought they were the only ones who would join the Army, we then tried to get them GEDs once they were already in units. Can't tell you how much disruption that caused, because every "down" cycle (post support, etc) a certain percentage of your unit went to high school. Cdrs were graded on their ability to turn drop-outs into grads. This new program, if at all successful, may scratch a huge itch.

2. When I worked in a "futures" office we looked at a similar solution to the upcoming language challenge (we don't have problems in the Army). In the not too distant future, a significantly large portion of the population will not have English as a mother tongue. Based on evidence so far, a large part of that population won't have meaningful English at all. Yet Army ranks will require recruiting in that pool, so the question becomes, how do you manage the language disconnect?

There are actually several potential solutions. One involves forming minority units with bi-lingual officers and NCOs. Another involves providing minimal ESL so the recruits can be functional, but not totally interactive. That solution was used in the 19th century in some multi-lingual empires. The third major option was to expand DLIELC or build a new schoolhouse and spend the first 6 mo to a year of each enlistment learning English. There are advantages and disadvantages of each COA -- no, really! The issue will not go away and the Army and possibly USMC need to be able to deal with it. The Jackson GED program may provide a model.

[jonSlack]

Yet Army ranks will require recruiting in that pool, so the question becomes, how do you manage the language disconnect?

When and how do recruits of the the French Foreign Legion learn French if they do not already speak it?

[Tom Odom]

When and how do recruits of the the French Foreign Legion learn French if they do not already speak it?

They have it literally beat into them. Plus they sing constantly.

See Mouthful of Rocks by Chris Jennings

[selil]

There are two levels of bunkum to this discussion.

First, American K-12 education is only woefully inadequate if rated against highly selective metrics. When compared with the world population on a capita basis Americans are pretty smart. Select western world, deselect substandard economies, and then forget to correct for ageism and cheating and you put America really far down the list.

Second, I can't remember his name but last time there was a discussion about the lame, crazy, and stupid being recruited and going nowhere, a general quipped that he were one of them. What you do, and where you go is as much smarts as well as opportunities.

There is a thing happening and I've discussed it with other a few times and there are threads somewhere around here about it too. One of the principles of the K-12 education system (and the A&M Land Grant Universities) is the preparation of a soldier force. If those systems are not presenting a wealth of candidates that is one problem. if they are presenting no candidates that is another problem.

[jonSlack]

They have it literally beat into them. Plus they sing constantly.

So cadences and an aggressive Combatives program. Problem solved.