Only three out of 10 young people are eligible to join the U.S. Army, a new low that has the military changing its recruiting strategy and physical requirements.
The latest figures from the U.S. Army state that seven out of 10 young people between the ages of 17 and 24 are ineligible to become soldiers due to obesity or health problems, a lack of a high school education or criminal histories, the Florida Times-Union reported.
“There’s a reliance on an ever-smaller group of people to serve and defend the country. What do we do about that and how do we address that concern?” Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet, commanding general for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky., told the paper. “That’s the big national security question that I’m struggling with today.”
By 2020, Batschelet estimates that the number of eligible young people will be down to two in 10. Even though the Army isn’t at a complete loss for talented recruits now, he said, this trend means something has to change.
The current Army policy is that every recruit, from infantry to graphic design, has to meet the same physical requirements to join. But as the Army moves toward “cyber warriors” that might not be necessary.
“One of the things we’re considering is that your [mission] as a cyber warrior is different. Maybe you’re not the Ranger who can do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups and run the 2-mile inside of 10 minutes, but you can crack a data system of an enemy,” Batschelet told the Times-Union.
“But you’re physically fit, you’re a healthy person and maintain your professional appearance, but we don’t make you have the same physical standards as someone who’s in the Ranger Battalion.”
He called it a “cultural change” for the Army that will re-define “what is considered quality for soldiers.”
The Army is also hoping to develop better relationships with schools around the country to help promote service at an earlier age. Right now, Batschelet said, they are primarily concentrated in the South because those schools have been more open to having them come in.
“Societally, the bottom line is that the Army had a demand-based model under the all-volunteer force for the last 40 years. We didn’t have to worry too much about it because supply was adequate to demand,” Batschelet said.
“It just doesn’t look like that is going to be the case going forward.”
