Many young people interested in enlisting in the military are turned away for various reasons — for lack of education, for being physically unfit, or for having a criminal background — but not the 75 percent cited by a Pentagon report, Valley recruiters said.
Yet, out of five to six calls she receives a day from those interested, about one is eligible to come in for a sit-down discussion, Army Staff Sgt. Stephanie Mitchley said Wednesday from her office in Hummels Wharf.
“Only 10 percent of the population in the United States is qualified to enlist,” Mitchley said, “and 1 to 2 percent actually do.”
Retired military leaders from across Pennsylvania held a news conference at the state Capitol Wednesday, calling for increased investment in early childhood education to improve school success and preserve military readiness for the future. Officials said more and more people ages 17 to 24 are being turned down for enlistment.
There are three focus areas for interested individuals, Mitchley said: moral, mental and physical.
Moral and mental seem to be the biggest problem areas.
“(The problem) is local,” Air Force Staff Sgt. Chad Brigner said Wednesday from his office in Hummels Wharf. “Is it prevalent? Not in my eyes. I haven’t turned away that many people. From what I’ve seen it’s not that extreme.”
Brigner said there are a lot of people that are able to be helped, whether it’s being directed to a different branch or obtaining additional education.
While he said he’s turned down people from all three areas, the legal issues are the worst because those can’t be fixed.
“People can lose weight, if there’s no schooling, they can get credits,” he said. “If they have a felony or major law (issue), it’s there permanently.”
Mitchley agreed.
“Kids these days are always in trouble,” she said. “They have a lot of law violations.”
She added, though, that many also have a great deal of trouble with the mental part. A majority of interested young people can’t pass the basic Algebra 2, or don’t pass the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery test, which is like the military SATs.
To help those having trouble with the educational portion, Mitchley said the Army started a program called “March to Success” which tutors individuals on math and English. There is a great success rate, she said, of three out of four completing the program.
In Pennsylvania, one in five students fail to finish high school on time or drop out entirely, and retired generals believe the investment in early childhood education would increase the number of young Americans who graduate and qualify to serve.
Both Mitchley and Brigner agreed that reaching students at younger ages would make it easier to remind those with plans of enlisting the importance of their younger years.
“I’d tell those interested to focus on school, stay in school, avoid drugs and stay out of trouble,” Brigner said. “If you live a good life you’re qualified for anything you want to do in the future.”
Mitchley agreed that speaking to students at a younger age would help lower the number of those turned away. She wishes the Army would have the opportunity to enter schools and talk to students of freshman and sophomore age.
“We could give them the ASVAP test and let them know what the military provides. We have every job in the civilian economy,” she said. “... We’re the fighting force of America and need to be mentally, morally and physically capable.”
n E-mail comments to gmorton@dailyitem.com
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