“The Defense Department quietly asked Congress
By on Aug 4th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
“The Defense Department quietly asked Congress
on Monday to raise the maximum age for military recruits to 42 for all branches of the service.”
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At last the 101st Fighting Keyboards will be able to enlist en masse.
August 4th, 2006 at 2:48 pmNope, we definitely already have all the troops we need. How dare you say we need a draft, Mr. Murtha?
August 4th, 2006 at 2:52 pmSo when do you think they will start to take prisoners and give give them a few years off their sentences?
August 4th, 2006 at 2:56 pmHave the raised the weight requirements yet?
-Jonah “Doughy Pantload” Goldberg
August 4th, 2006 at 2:58 pmOoooh, I feel SAFER already…
August 4th, 2006 at 2:59 pmWhen will Fox and Friends’ Brian Kilmeade join up? We all know he’s a big fan of the war. Come on, Kilmeade, put your money where your mouth is. Be all that you can be. I’m sure the military could find something for even you to do over in Iraq or Afghanistan.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:01 pmAfter reading the article I get the feeling that these increases in bonuses and pay and recruitment age just are a bribe to get people to join up. The problem with recruitment is not the pay or bonuses its the perception of the people that joining the armed services now is just joining up to go and kill people somewhere else in the world. It has nothing to do with defending our country anymore.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:02 pmold men and young boys waging war…..hmmm…where have I seen this before?
August 4th, 2006 at 3:06 pmHey! We could grant citizenship to all those who enlist in the military. If you don’t get killed, you’re in.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:08 pmWe already do, Virginia Hillbilly.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:17 pmI’d say off to Ft. Benning for the lot of the enlisted Navy and Airforce for a little Cross Service training. Why not use the folks we have? I thought we could just bomb our way out of this. Stm I ‘m all for Brian , shouldn’t we investigate the military, Killmeade, getting down and givin us 20.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:18 pmExcuse me. WEST Virginia Hillbilly. I do know the diff.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:18 pmI’ve got a cunning plan…
Forget the GI Bill and signing bonuses. If you want to get the the 30+ crowd to sign up, go for their biggest worry: debt. Offer to wipe away their outstanding credit up to, say, $20,000-$30,000 and put their credit scores back into good standing for signing up.
See, there was some upside to that ridiculous bankruptcy bill after all: more potential recruits!
August 4th, 2006 at 3:21 pmDate Total Name Place of Death – Province Cause of Death
August 4th, 2006 at 3:22 pm04-Aug-2006 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile – hostile fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile – hostile fire
03-Aug-2006 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile – hostile fire
US Sergeant George M. Ulloa Jr. Al Anbar Province Hostile – hostile fire
02-Aug-2006 3 | US: 3 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Corporal Joseph A. Tomci Al Anbar Province Hostile – hostile fire
US Sergeant Ryan D. Jopek Tikrit – Salah ad Din Hostile – hostile fire – IED attack
US Sergeant Dustin D. Laird Rawah – Anbar Hostile – hostile fire
01-Aug-2006 2 | US: 1 | UK: 1 | Other: 0
US Specialist Hai Ming Hsia Ramadi – Anbar Hostile – hostile fire
UK Corporal Matthew Cornish Basra – Basrah Hostile – hostile fire – mortar attack
Total 9 | US: 8 | UK: 1 | Other: 0
Then, the Congress will ask for another couple bilions soon. Liniment is expensive.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:35 pmWell, ONE way to get more recruits would be to allow GAYS AND LESBIANS who want to serve to serve OPENLY AND HONESTLY but the military would rather raise the AGE OF RECRUITS TO 42?!!?
August 4th, 2006 at 3:35 pmI guess CONGRESS and our President would RATHER RAISE THE AGE TO 60 than allow GAYS AND LESBIANS to openly serve in our military. WHAT A BUNCH OF IDIOCY “DON’T ASK/DON’T TELL” is!
August 4th, 2006 at 3:36 pmSince the White House knows instituting a draft would cause massive civil unrest, they have to keep raising the age to support the failed invasion of Iraq.
They might as well just make it completely open-ended — no age limits at all. That way toddlers all the way up to old chickenhawks including Bush, Cheney, and Rove can sign up to go fight in the war they started, since apparently they love war so much.
August 4th, 2006 at 3:47 pmThat way they can go after those 42 year old’s that they were unable to recruit last year.
What a mess these guys have made of our military. We look really, really weak.
August 4th, 2006 at 4:13 pmIsn’t everything going according to John “El Savadorian Death Squads” Negroponte’s plans?
August 4th, 2006 at 4:13 pmOops wrong thread.
August 4th, 2006 at 4:13 pm#18
August 4th, 2006 at 4:15 pmWe could have the 1st Blastocyst Brigade dropping in from above.
#18 Inkadnka, actually the draft would be the best thing. Think about it, if Congress had to consider funding a war and using the draft to man it that would be political suicide for anyone that was elected.
Rangel Wants Mandatory Military Service
Monday, Dec. 30, 2002 9:35 a.m. EST
CNSNews.com – Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., will introduce a bill in the next congressional session to make military service mandatory.
“I’m going to introduce legislation to have universal military service to let everyone have an opportunity to defend the Free World against the threats coming to us,” said Rangel on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
Rangel, who voted against a joint resolution authorizing military action against Iraq in October, believes mandatory enlistment for men ages 18-26 would serve as a deterrent to war.
“When you talk about a war, you’re talking about ground troops, you’re talking about enlisted people, and they don’t come from the kids and members of Congress,” Rangel said. “I think, if we went home and found out that there were families concerned about their kids going off to war, there would be more cautiousness and a more willingness to work with the international community than to say, ‘Our way or the highway.’”
The last time the U.S. had a draft was in 1971, when it was discontinued under then-President Richard Nixon at the height of the Vietnam War.
August 4th, 2006 at 4:16 pmFly-man,
August 4th, 2006 at 4:20 pmTo to be clear what is proposed isn’t actually a draft. It’s mandatory service. They are similar but a draft is enacted during a conflict when troops are needed. Mandatory service is continuous applied for a specific age group.
Diet, Roger That.
August 4th, 2006 at 4:59 pmGee, that means IRI can now join up.
August 4th, 2006 at 5:08 pmI think they ought to recall “w” to serve his active duty. And while they are at it why not recind the deferments of all cons that skipped duty in 1960…1975. We could end the recruitment problem once and for all.
August 4th, 2006 at 5:48 pmSo if I’m a 42yr old neonazi with a history of mental problems, I fail the entrance exam and the physical I’m in? SheeeeewWee a cot to sleep on, 2 square meals,and all you can drink fecalwater,……. Hot damn!
August 4th, 2006 at 6:16 pmDouglas Adams would probably have been ashamed. 42. after all.
August 4th, 2006 at 6:25 pmForget the GI Bill and signing bonuses. If you want to get the the 30+ crowd to sign up, go for their biggest worry: debt. Offer to wipe away their outstanding credit…
Comment by baldrick — August 4, 2006 @ 3:21 pm
Well, ONE way to get more recruits would be to allow GAYS AND LESBIANS who want to serve to serve OPENLY AND HONESTLY…
Comment by cowboyneok — August 4, 2006 @ 3:35 pm
either and or both… and mostly fair …
August 4th, 2006 at 6:32 pmTo any other middle aged blog addicts who might be reading
“Don’t look back something might be gaining on you” Satchel Paige
August 4th, 2006 at 6:43 pm#31 RW: I’m not looking over my shoulder. I’m in my 50s and already been there. If I got another draft notice THIS time baby, it will get the zippo treatment, cuz, HELL NO, I WON’T GO!!!
August 4th, 2006 at 6:59 pm#31 RW: I’m not looking over my shoulder. I’m in my 50s and already been there. If I got another draft notice THIS time baby, it will get the zippo treatment, cuz, HELL NO, I WON’T GO!!!
August 4th, 2006 at 6:59 pmOK-help me get past the 19 June 2005 date on the linked Army Times article… What is the source for the Monday request?
August 4th, 2006 at 7:04 pmLook all Americans say support our troops just don’t ask me to go or don’t send my child. That’s what makes America America. If all the people who support this invasion would sign up for the military we would have more then enough troops. Most Americans would never enlist but it’s those who say stay and fight and get killed. Now if Bush ever opened the draft all hell would break out. And all Americans even people on this blog would fight like hell not to get drafted. They would call their Congressman or who ever not to go. So get real Bush can do what ever he wants just don’t open the draft then Bush wont need an impeachment to get out of office.
August 4th, 2006 at 7:35 pmI was depressed about turning 45, it’s a blessing after all……..who knew?
August 4th, 2006 at 8:33 pmI’ll tell you what. With the economy as it is, I wish they would raise it even further. My husband served in the Navy for six years on submarines, and he decided not to re-enlist because we had small children and he wanted to be there for them growing up. Now we are 44, our kids are pretty much grown, and we could use the superior money and benefits. I love him being here, but I would gladly support his re-enlistment now as a second career.
August 4th, 2006 at 9:05 pmThey up it 15 more years and I’ll get my draft notice…
August 4th, 2006 at 9:13 pmI wonder if they’ll insist on mandatory retirement at 62. What was the name for Germany’s old man defense force? Bush’s Dream Team gets better every day.
August 4th, 2006 at 9:45 pmThe VA and the American Taxpayer better start gearing up for all those early medical discharges and early retirement for bad knees, bad backs, bad hips, bad whatever that the Geezer Brigade will be putting on the military.
Can you imagine a greyheaded old goat knocking out 50 pushups for some 19 year old Drill Sergeant?
Can you imagine a 42 year old potbellied private, struggling under 100 degree heat and wearing a 100 pound full combat load trying to lug two 5 gallon water cans across the Iraqi desert for his squad who may be dependent on him for their survival?
Better make sure the military starts stocking up on geritol, they are damned sure gonna need it.
August 4th, 2006 at 10:11 pmThe war machine is getting old.
August 4th, 2006 at 11:27 pmDidn’t Nazi Germany similarly expand their age limits at the very end?
I hope they all have their capsules ready.
August 5th, 2006 at 12:20 amCouldn’t China fill the void here somewhere? They’ve got all the jobs, they could do the ffightin’ too.
Monty Python could garner an army with more finesse than the Pentagon.
The Nascar dads are sweatin’ it.
August 5th, 2006 at 12:21 am#43 – wildfire,
August 5th, 2006 at 12:30 amYou may be onto something. We could outsource warfare. What’s next, sex?
Instead of passing out rubbers, they’ll be passing out viagra. At ease will take on a new meaning.
August 5th, 2006 at 12:49 am#34: OK-help me get past the 19 June 2005 date on the linked Army Times article… What is the source for the Monday request?
You’re right. Something’s fishy here.
August 5th, 2006 at 1:27 amHitler near the end used 15 year old boys in combat and men up to the age of 60, so maybe this signals the same thing for America, as Bush hides in a bunker waiting for the Chinese or Islamic hordes to finish him off?!
August 5th, 2006 at 1:56 amyes, this is a great idea! they should also lower the recruiting age to 14! seriously, at this point, why not have our policies completely reflect the utter insanity of our leaders?
August 5th, 2006 at 2:08 amrecruit the trolls , at least then they’ll gain a little intellectual integrity .It’s time to walk the walk shadow dwellers , then tell us about the glories of murder as the finest tool of international diplomacy.
August 5th, 2006 at 1:36 pm