Target Centermass

Day: March 21, 2005

  • Army Ups Enlistment Age to 39

    Can one teach old dogs new military tricks?

    The maximum age for new recruits joining the Army Reserve and National Guard has been raised by five years to 39.

    Officials for the U.S. Army, which is struggling to meet enlistment quotas following two years of war in Iraq, announced the policy on Friday. They said raising the age expands the recruiting pool and strengthens the readiness of Reserve units. Another benefit, the Army said in a statement, is the “maturity, motivation, loyalty and patriotism” older recruits will bring to the service.

    Physical requirements will remain the same for all recruits regardless of age. Army spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Robbins told FOXNews.com that the older recruits will be required to pass the same “standard batter [sic] of physical, mental and cognitive tests” and would be expected to enter any environment expected of younger soldiers.

    There are many “physically fit, health-conscious individuals in this [age] category who can serve their nation and they do right now,” Robbins said.

    The Army National Guard missed its recruiting goal for the 2004 fiscal year and is “short across the board right now” in recruiting soldiers for active duty, Reserves and Guardsman, Robbins said. But she added that recruitment during winter months is generally lower than average, while the end of the school year and summer see a jump in enlistments.

    […]

    Robbins said that the Army expected the higher enlistment age to help it reach recruitment goals, but that no specific numerical goal for the older age group was set.

    The test program applies only to new recruits and not those currently enlisted soldiers whose age requirements are determined by federal law. The age increase will run to September 2008. After the end of that period, the Army will “collect and analyze statistical data,” including how many enlistments were recruited and how many were retained.

    My guess is that this change will yield very few new recruits. After all, half of this group was still eligible to enlist on Sept. 12, 2001. Also, we’re not talking about just one weekend a month and two weeks a year. This is for new recruits who would have to march away from their civilian lives for basic and advanced training, the same training expected of active-duty recruits. Add to this the possibility of activation and I doubt there’s a substantial portion in this age bracket ready to raise their right hand for state and country.

    The people eligible again have already had opportunity to demonstrate love of country and desire to militarily serve. Will many fathers (and even grandfathers) now rally to the cause? I doubt enough even understand the threat of radical Islam and that the cause is their families.

  • Arab League Summit: More of the Same

    What? You expected progress? No, the Arab League chooses to keep their collective heads buried in the sand of the past.

    This week’s gathering of Arab leaders won’t open the doors to establishing ties with Israel because of opposition from Syria and other hard-line countries. Still, some Arab nations are moving forward with a more welcoming stance on peace.

    Some had predicted the summit, which opens Tuesday, would be “historic” in dealing with rapid changes in the Middle East: huge demonstrations in Lebanon and a Syrian military pullback there, new optimism in the peace process and increasing pressure for democratic change.

    In the end, it won’t be so daring. Arab League leaders are largely avoiding the issues of Lebanon and democratic reform, and they rejected Jordan’s proposal for a new peace strategy that would offer Israel normal relations and drop the traditional demand that it first return Arab lands. Instead, they’re likely to pay lip service to Syria’s concerns about U.S. pressure and consider reform of the Arab League itself.

    The world is changing around and among them. Despite this, the nations of the Arab League whistle the same old tiring tune that has led nowhere, demanding Israeli withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders, a Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem and a resolution to the Palestinian refugee problem.

    Also frozen in time are the wonderful relationships between the various members.

    The gathering will be attended by only 13 of the 22 leaders. The others are staying away for health reasons or because of personal disputes.

    For example, Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, is not participating apparently because of the presence of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, whom Saudi officials accuse of involvement in a plot to kill Abdullah.

    […]

    Jordan’s King Abdullah II is staying away from the summit, apparently angered by the dismissal of his proposal. His government had argued a new stance would encourage Israel to make concessions in the peace process.

    As the Middle East nations try to maintain bouyancy above growing and tumultuous undercurrents of democracy, not all voices are silent about the nothing-new nature of the summit.

    And despite pressure from Washington for democratic reform, the summit will largely avoid the issue. Instead, the leaders are focusing on reforming the Arab League by endorsing a plan to set up an “Arab parliament” an unelected consultative body for the league.

    In an article in the Arab daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, columnist Abdel-Rahman al-Rashid criticized the league for failing to deal with major issues facing the Middle East.

    “What is the benefit of a summit or even the League itself when it hides, waiting for each crisis to end by itself,” he wrote. “It is ridiculous that the summit has promised Arabs a big achievement, an Arab parliament. Is this what Arabs want? Another symbolic chatting council?”

    What benefit? Only the holding back of the hands of time.

  • We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

    JohnL over at TexasBestGrok has a regular installment he calls Aircraft Cheesecake in which he focuses on an particular airplane from days gone by. The latest is a look at an interesting Soviet bomber prototype from the ’30s.

    Now, Varifrank has posted some seacraft cheesecake about a couple of massive Japanese WWII submarines, the wreckage of one of which was just confirmed today. Perhaps most interesting about these two subs was that, with the fall of Japan, they were ordered to surrender while en route to attack North America … from the air. Go read about these fascinating submarines that were also submersible carriers.