74% of black recruits, 65% of latino recruits, and 58% of white recruits came from neighborhoods with below-median household income (this is not to say poverty level, mind you, although about half of the most overrepresented household income range is beneath the 200% poverty guideline) in 2004. Data is pretty much only available by neighborhood-of-origin, since the DoD doesn’t collect statistics on household income, apparently. The percent of recruits who were high-school graduates decreased 13% between 2004 and 2006. I don’t recall the statistics of quality standards off the top of my head.
You said the military has very high standards and “won’t just take anyone.” Well, if the marines, which arguably have the highest standards of any branch of the military in selecting recruits, are willing to take a person with a 70 IQ who lacks the basic understanding of things like “right” and “wrong”, then it would seem to me anyone is fair game. Just because there are well-qualified individuals in the military doesn’t mean the standards aren’t hilariously low. That being said, I don’t particularly think the military needs absurdly high standards, and I have no problem with them taking in former gang members or what not. For many people from horrible backgrounds, the military is the only way to really get out of the neighborhood and circumstances they come from. The whole story screams of middle-class white people screaming “oh my GOD…GANG MEMBERS in my ARMY?” probably 90% of them are just normal black or mexican folks who soccer moms just assume are gang members cause they’re colored. And any “real” gang members are probably just trying to escape the circumstances they’re coming from, and that’s just peaches.
I know this is a bit of a Necropost, but then again I haven’t been on these forums in 3 1/2 years, so whatever.
A while back, the Army told me to be a Recruiter, so now I sit behind a desk and screen people who want to come in. When I first started this job, a Latin King tried to come in. I’ve met several people who do have a gang history, but they genuinely want to change their lives, as well as those who are coming in for the wrong reasons. It’s not too hard to tell the difference.
Additionally, this is indeed an old story. It’s been going on for a long time, and I’ve seen it the entire time I’ve been in. Every time I’ve come back from a deployment, we’d get new guys, and every once in a while you meet someone who’s very obviously in a gang. It’s ridiculous.
Yeah, it seems like now that most of the old regulars are grown and have lives outside of the digital realm there isn’t much going on here. I can fully understand that, especially considering how my life turned out haha
I really don’t remember how long it’s been since I was last active 0_o Probably the easiest run down would be got married, got divorced, got married again, two daughters, three deployments to Iraq, and the Army told me to be a Recruiter in California, so that’s what I’m doing now. I live what some people would consider a boring life of work, being a dad, and not much else in between, but it suits me well. I will say that I despise Recruiting and can’t wait to get back to the operational Army.
Is recruiting like a punishment position given to people who didn’t kill enough hajis? so it’s like now you’re being punished by recruiting fresh new faces who will get to go off and kill like hundreds of rag heads while you’re stuck at your desk in san luis obispo?
I’m sorry varan I shouldn’t troll you, you were a cool dude back in the day. but I can’t overcome my trolling instincts. and besides I’m too much of a coward (and for good reason) to make jokes about the army in front of actual people so I have to get my fill on the internets.
But seriously, as a guy who has been in iraq three times, don’t you have any misgivings about sending the next generation off into a terrible situation?
Actually, I was told that I was being put on Recruiting duty to give me a few years of non-deployable and because my evaluation reports marked me as the top 10%. Regarding putting people in during a “terrible situation”, there’s absolutely nothing horrible from a soldier’s perspective about deploying, at least there shouldn’t be. You get paid a LOT more than you do stateside, you get the honor of facing combat (something which very few Americans have the balls to do).
The deal is, there’s a lot more going on in this world than about 99.9% of civilians are aware, and the lower ranks of the military aren’t aware either. Trust me, everything has happened for a reason. Additionally, I don’t spend my time trying to talk people who don’t want to join into joining, that just reeks of being a used car salesman to me. If someone has a desire to join, I do the leg work for them. If they don’t, I talk to them about their plans. If they don’t have plans for the future, I offer them one. If they then have a desire to join, I help them; if not, I wish them well. The Army’s not for everyone, and it shouldn’t be.
As far as I’m concerned, if that’s something you want to avoid, then don’t join; it’s as simple as that. It’s not like there’s a draft in place, and trust me, I’m by no means a “used car salesman” type of recruiter. If someone has a desire to join, then I help them, if they don’t, I wish them well in their endeavors and give them whatever advice I can regarding their particular situation.
A Soldier doesn’t do this job because he wants to be rich, it’s a well known fact that we don’t exactly make it rain. A Soldier does this job for various other reasons, such as the desire to serve his country, or perhaps because he’s a real man and seeks to prove himself in combat. I know most people these days don’t share my mindset regarding combat, but I’ll go toe to toe with any enemy any day of the week. Real men used to think that way, but they don’t anymore because we’ve turned into a society of sheeple and bitch ass dudes. The majority of so called “men” shouldn’t be born with testicles, because it’s not like they use them for anything worth a damn anymore. If it weren’t for Soldiers, the world would be a much different place, and not for the better.
Good to see you. We all expect a report of everything that happened to you in the meantime. mmyes.