Current Events > Should military enlisting be 21 as well?

(+) Yeah! (+)

You have to be 21 to smoke or drink but at 18 you can die in a war? Makes no sense.

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Murrica land of the freeeeee

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That would be bad because a lot of kids join the military right after high school because they feel like they have no other options. If they couldnt do that anymore they would be screwed. Plus military indoctrination is probably more efficient the younger you are when youre exposed to it

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Feline_Heart posted...

That would be bad because a lot of kids join the military right after high school because they feel like they have no other options. If they couldnt do that anymore they would be screwed. Plus military indoctrination is probably more efficient the younger you are when youre exposed to it

It's weird that you think they'd join because they feel like they have no other options, instead of seeing it as a valid option among several with it's own benefits.

Also, what do you mean by indoctrination? Your tone suggests you mean something manipulative.

I did read an interesting article recently that one thing Army leadership is exploring is the possibility of raising the minimum infantry age, to try to get a more mature group in.

I really doubt it's feasible but it is interesting nonetheless.

I've been in since I turned 18 (actually spent my 18th birthday at the recruiter's office lol) and I don't regret it. I do think we could benefit from a more mature group of individuals, but if they did raise the recruitment age to 21 then they should at least still offer programs for high school graduates in the meantime - maybe you enlist and get paid to go to a community college for a couple years, get an Associate's or Certification(s) and attend some military training like a mixed ROTC program.

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Cheater87 posted...

You have to be 21 to smoke or drink but at 18 you can die in a war? Makes no sense.

Oh you innocent child, you can enlist a 16.

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Esrac posted...

It's weird that you think they'd join because they feel like they have no other options, instead of seeing it as a valid option among several with it's own benefits.

Also, what do you mean by indoctrination? Your tone suggests you mean something manipulative.

Youre right about youre first point. My bad. But doesnt the military train people to follow orders without questioning them? It seems like they try to get rid of individual thought so that you can do what youre told as quickly as possible. That sounds like indoctrination to me. Its not necessarily manipulative. Thats just what they do

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Tropicalwood posted...

Oh you innocent child, you can enlist a 16.

It's 17 and in that case you require legal guardian or parental permission. And in most cases a person's not going to go to boot camp at 17 because they still need to graduate high school (I know that's also fairly common, but just a stipulation).

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Feline_Heart posted...

But doesnt the military train people to follow orders without questioning them? It seems like they try to get rid of individual thought so that you can do what youre told as quickly as possible.

Maybe in the Marines or something.

There's a whole lot of stuff to this, though.

We recognize that the younger generation doesn't like to just blindly do things without understanding the reasoning behind it. That's a challenge for new people coming in but it's also a challenge for the leaders who *also* have to adapt to find a middle ground and lead effectively.

In boot camp you are trained to execute orders quickly and without question, and react to situations instinctively. A lot of those things are life-saving in nature, though. Like in the Navy you drill on firefighting - I've used that knowledge in regular everyday life, too.

But I can tell you from personal experience 99% of people come out of boot camp with their individuality intact and that innate desire to learn and know why they're doing what they're doing, too. Maybe it's just the community I serve in, which does have higher ASVAB score and additional testing requirements, but there are a lot of smart people who serve.

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yes

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Feline_Heart posted...

Youre right about youre first point. My bad. But doesnt the military train people to follow orders without questioning them? It seems like they try to get rid of individual thought so that you can do what youre told as quickly as possible. That sounds like indoctrination to me. Its not necessarily manipulative. Thats just what they do

No. We are obligated to follow lawful orders from superiors in our chain of command, but there is nothing that is done to strip you of individual thought. Lawful orders are generally what you'd expect to follow for the function of the mission at hand.

Like Hexenherz mentions with firefighting. If the ship is on fire, you can't be bickering and arguing when there is a fire going that could kill everyone of you don't put it out.

So, of course we need to follow relevant commands to get the job done, but it's not some kind of brainwashing thing and people who go come out of RTC still have their individuality in tact.

Hexenherz posted...

Maybe in the Marines or something.

There's a whole lot of stuff to this, though.

We recognize that the younger generation doesn't like to just blindly do things without understanding the reasoning behind it. That's a challenge for new people coming in but it's also a challenge for the leaders who *also* have to adapt to find a middle ground and lead effectively.

In boot camp you are trained to execute orders quickly and without question, and react to situations instinctively. A lot of those things are life-saving in nature, though. Like in the Navy you drill on firefighting - I've used that knowledge in regular everyday life, too.

But I can tell you from personal experience 99% of people come out of boot camp with their individuality intact and that innate desire to learn and know why they're doing what they're doing, too. Maybe it's just the community I serve in, which does have higher ASVAB score and additional testing requirements, but there are a lot of smart people who serve.

What's your rate?

CTI

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no, they will be less gullible at 21. making them harder to recruit.

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Hexenherz posted...

CTI

Which language? We have a CTI drop out at our command who was learning Russian.

Russian

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Cheater87 posted...

You have to be 21 to smoke

wat

Some states have or are raising the legal tobacco buying age to 21.

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SauI_Goodman posted...

wat

Smoking is now 21 instead of 18.

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lol seriously wtf

If you think too many young people are enlisting in the military, you should support programs that prevent people from being in situations where they see enlisting as the only way to get an education, employment, etc.

Once you reduce some of those factors, enlisting becomes more of a weighted choice among many.

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You can buy a rifle and high capacity magazines at 18 in most states but you can't smoke or drink, so unfair.