Thoughts on the military and military activities of a diverse nature. Free-ranging and eclectic.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Fitness!

This is coolbert:

For over a century, the U.S. Army has realized that a very high percentage of American young men are unfit for military service.

This is both from physical and mental unfitness.

In time of war, of course, when large numbers of fit and able young men are required for military service, as was the case in both World War One [WW1] and War Two [WW2], this lack of fitness among American young men posed a significant problem. You CANNOT just scoop up a bunch of youths and expect them to perform in an able manner if they do NOT meet your standards. YOU WANT people to perform well in war AND SUCCEED!!

Consider these figures, thanks to Al Nofi and CIC:

[my pertinent comments in BOLD!!]

"A study of recruits being processed at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, in 1917, determined that while only 7.9-percent of white Northern men were illiterate, fully 36.5-percent of Southern whites were."

The U.S. Army, to my knowledge, was the FIRST organization to make wide-spread use of standardized aptitude tests. The RESULTS of these test really shocked the higher up military brass. The conclusion was that THE POPULACE OF THE UNITED STATES CONSISTED OF A NATION OF MORONS!!

"Fully 75-percent of men who tried to enlist in the Regular Army during the Spanish-American War were rejected as "lacking in legal, mental, moral, or physical qualifications."

Seventy-five percent were rejected!! That is amazingly high!! Presumably a lot of those rejected COULD find positions in the various militias [National Guard] units mustered during the war.

"During World War II, about 38-percent of white men were rejected for military service by reason of physical defect, and almost 58-percent of black men."

When you are speaking about thirty eight percent of the white men, you are beginning to talk about almost ONE-HALF of the adult military age populace being UNFIT according to some criteria. And this in a TIME OF WAR WHEN A HUGE NUMBERS GAME WAS PLAYED!!

"The most common medical reason cited by the U.S. Army during World War I for classifying a man IV-F (unfit for military service by reason of physical defect) was poor eyesight, 21.7-percent."

"True to its slogan, "A few good men," during the fiscal years 1938-1940, approximately 205,000 men volunteered to join the Marine Corps, but only 38,080 were accepted."

This is of course during the depression period prior to the war. That still is a small percentage of those applying to enlist being chosen!!

Stringent criteria for enlistment are NOT confined to the U.S. Army. This phenomenon is also observable for the British Army during WW2. And keep in mind that the British WERE WAY MORE STRAPPED FOR MANPOWER THAN WERE THE AMERICAN MILITARY!!

"During World War II, "psychological reasons" were cited for only 2.5% of men rejected for service by the British Army, but fully 10% of those rejected by the U.S. Army."

"Fully 40% of the men who volunteers for service in the British Army during the Crimean War were found unfit to bear arms by reason of physical, intellectual, or moral failings."

AGAIN, WE ARE SEEING A FAILING PERCENTAGE THAT IS NEARING HALF OF THE DRAFT AGE MEN!!

Stringent requirements apply not only to people, THEY ALSO APPLY TO DOGS AS WELL!!

"During World War II Americans volunteers 45,000 dogs for military service, of which only 18,000 were deemed suitable for testing, of which only 11,500 were accepted for training, which only 4,889 completed."

Consider, however, the modern statistics and demographics on the U.S. Army recruit and troop of the 1990's:

"Through the 1990s, the typical recruit in the U.S. Army was 20 years old, had a high school education (92-percent), came from a family that earned less than $50,000 a year (94-percent), was not married (88-percent), and was most likely from a two-parent household (62-percent)."

Your present U.S. Army troop is much more educated and presumably healthier than the counter-part of WW1 and WW2. Much more is expected of them. Dullards and physically unfit folks NEED not apply!! And that is that!!

coolbert.

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