Quote Originally Posted by Jedburgh View Post
Pardon me if I take that a bit personally. Generalizations are rarely - if ever - accurate. And to categorize all those who did not complete HS as being "bottom of the barrel" or "lacking intestinal fortitude" is insulting to the many who had little choice in the matter. What happened to judging a soldier by his demonstrated abilities? Even in the MI field, most of my peers and superiors over the years judged their fellow soldiers only by their performance, not by what they had on paper before they put on the uniform.
Ted, sorry if you took that personally. It is a generalization, but an opinion I formed from the mid-70s. During the early 80s between raising educational standards in the ranks and the ASVAB bar, we witnessed a very welcomed clean up of the NCO ranks. Many of those people (with or without a high school education) had more than demonstrated their lack of desire, drive and ability. By the same token, we lost some extremely talented and experienced NCOs.

As CR6 and Ken stated, getting through HS is one of many indicators that the individual is serious about accomplishing a task. Even when some of those folks were told they would have to retake the ASVAB, they were given every opportunity to attend specific classes that would concentrate on their individually weak areas, and were even offered classes that would prepare them for a GED.

I am not advocating that our enlisted have a Masters by the rank of E-5 as was in another thread, but I’m strongly against reducing both the Army's and ASVAB test standards. I think we are once again setting good folks up for failure, be it in the Army or certainly later as a civilian.

Quote Originally Posted by Jedburgh View Post
Hell, I dropped out the first year of HS. Had to - my father had left the year prior, and being the oldest of four, the financial situation was too tight for me to think of doing anything else. I had tried working and going to school for a year, but it wasn't enough. We were constantly on the edge of losing the house. It was only tract factory housing a block from the RR yards, but the other options were not good. So, I worked at a variety of manual labor jobs around Detroit until the next two siblings in line were old enough - one about to graduate from HS, the other right behind.

Then, as soon as I had the chance, I was at the recruiter's office and signing on the line. For me, it was a welcome escape and I never looked back. I certainly am not "anti-intellectual", but I am also strongly against arbitrarily condemning an individual who did not complete a formal eduction to a level also determined arbitrarily. For us to close off the opportunity serve in uniform to those who test well enough to enlist simply because they do not have a diploma is just plain stupid. You will never know what potential talent you keep out.

And as regards discipline, from my own personal experience during a sentence as TRADOC cadre, those with both undergrad and advanced degrees are just as likely to get themselves in deep trouble as HS grads or those with just a GED. Just as the paper is not a true indicator of native intelligence, it is also not indicative of who is or is not a troublemaker.
Your situation was far different, although not unique. I’m certain anyone would be extremely proud of their son or daughter putting their youth and life on hold for the good of their family.

Are you saying that graduating from high school is an arbitrarily derived scholastic level, or the ASVAB test standards?

You’re correct, having a GED instead of a high school diploma means little, and is in no way an indicator of future success. All I had was a GED (because by 11th grade I saw no reason to risk my life by attending another year in Suitland, Maryland).