New Report Reveals That 75% of Young Americans Are Unfit for Military Service

"According to a new report, 75 percent of young people ages 17 to 24 are unable to enlist in the military because they fail to graduate high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former NATO Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark, and some of America's top retired admirals, generals and other military leaders called today for immediate action to address this threat to America's national security."

Horrible. How are 25% of people supposed to carry the other 75%?

Huh, sounds about right to me . . . 25% of all the people do 75% of the work. [feeling snarky today - Mercury Return in Scorp]

Some of the mundane astrologers have been talking about Mars going Rx by progression in the USA chart indicating loss of status as a major military power. This could be one aspect of why. 

snip from Ray Merriman:

"Mars is the planet that relates to the military of a country. By progression, Mars has now turned retrograde in the chart of the United States (July 2, 1776), as of mid-2008. Mars will remain retrograde for approximately 78 years, which implies that the historical thrust of the USA military policy is entering a long stage of reversal. The collective urge to be less military-oriented, and more oriented to efforts designed to attain an era of world peace, is likely to grow as Mars is retrograde in the USA chart. But at the time of the progressed retrograde, both the “hawks” and the “doves” will likely commence a powerful schism in the USA psyche. "

My friend served with the British army when he was younger, recently decided to go back to service. He was turned down for service because of eczema. 

God, us Americans are fat!

I'm not talking about anyone on this board.

the school lunch program was instituted after too many young men were found unfit for the draft due to nutritional disorders...

wondering what we can do about it...

there's a lot of support already there.  i taught GED classes to kidswho went straight into the military after graduation.  they were committed. (as opposed to the students who thought it was going to be "easier" than high school.)  so if they want to join and don't have their diploma they can get themselves moving on over to a local free GED program.  there's lots of them.

criminal records are harder... i've heard they've relaxed the restrictions on what sort of crimes one has committed, in order to get more people into the armed forces.  that makes me nervous.  i wonder about a bunch of the anti-gang programs popping up around the country... if they're doing any good... hopeless teenage boys are the primary criminalgroup in most societies...

what happened to the boy's clubs?  to after school events for teenagers?  funding?

and, well... in most cases physically unfit can be fixed, if you're actually committed to trying to get into the militar.  just like education.  a little focus and determination and it can be done.  it just requires motivation.

so i wonder where the motivation is?  i see a lot more alienation than motivation.  not much of a sense of civic community or local connections... in a lot of places... which is probably a side effect of greater mobility...