More felons allowed to enlist in Army, Marines

[Rangerguru]

WASHINGTON - Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex crime convictions.

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[Ops NCO]

Hmmm. I know manning the force is a "rock and hard place" scenario. But it never bodes well to drop the standards.

Ran into a platoon sergeant at BWI who was in the Division at the same time as me (he got out for seven years, and re-enlisted recently). He was telling me they were getting kids who literally could not pass the PT test when they got to Bragg.

:(

[Bulldawgs07]

Hmmm. I know manning the force is a "rock and hard place" scenario. But it never bodes well to drop the standards.

Ran into a platoon sergeant at BWI who was in the Division at the same time as me (he got out for seven years, and re-enlisted recently). He was telling me they were getting kids who literally could not pass the PT test when they got to Bragg.

:(

That's not surprising when they drop the pullup requirement and don't enforce the PT test standards at Airborne School. I saw people having to rest at 10 pushups, yet somehow managing to have 32 more half assed pushups counted. The BC openly admitted to my buddy that all he cared about was numbers and "why should the 82nd get all the good Soldiers, while the 10th Mountain get's the failures."

[Silverback]

Back when I was in....wait never mind I'll start telling these stories on June 1st.

[ANGRYCivilian]

Besides the PT issue, is the requiring of waivers for certain things any different than it was before? Or, are more people attempting to join, so it bumps the numbers of different waivers required and accepted up?

Some of these offenses, though, should not be waived, like rape, incest, child abuse, various thievery, terrorist threats, etc. Crimes like assault, though, could be something as simple as a fight. I think all of us have been in some sort of a fight before, and we're just lucky that we grew up 20,30,40 years ago, when you could actually get in a fight, and that's all it ever was.

[Silverback]

That's not surprising when they drop the pullup requirement and don't enforce the PT test standards at Airborne School. I saw people having to rest at 10 pushups, yet somehow managing to have 32 more half assed pushups counted. The BC openly admitted to my buddy that all he cared about was numbers and "why should the 82nd get all the good Soldiers, while the 10th Mountain get's the failures."

Yeah that's a shame...Because jump school used to be hard?

I'll tell you a secret, people that cling to Airborne status as a means to align themselves with something elite is (at best) pathetic.

I say this because once you exit the aircraft gravity does all the work and all you have mastered at that point is falling down. Falling down, let's discuss falling down.

Drunks fall down and normally do it without injury
Little kids fall down all the time
Our very own preacher has most likely fallen down several times and has only had to use his "Life alert" to summon assistance a maximum of 5% of the time.

In closing I am of the opinion that Airborne school has always been a joke and the weak souls who could not meet the "Airborne standard" are not worthy of the company of drunks, children or our very own preacher.

[The Holmchicken]

That's not surprising when they drop the pullup requirement and don't enforce the PT test standards at Airborne School. I saw people having to rest at 10 pushups, yet somehow managing to have 32 more half assed pushups counted. The BC openly admitted to my buddy that all he cared about was numbers and "why should the 82nd get all the good Soldiers, while the 10th Mountain get's the failures."

Yeah that's a shame...Because jump school used to be hard?

I'll tell you a secret, people that cling to Airborne status as a means to align themselves with something elite is (at best) pathetic.

I say this because once you exit the aircraft gravity does all the work and all you have mastered at that point is falling down. Falling down, let's discuss falling down.

Drunks fall down and normally do it without injury
Little kids fall down all the time
Our very own preacher has most likely fallen down several times and has only had to use his "Life alert" to summon assistance a maximum of 5% of the time.

In closing I am of the opinion that Airborne school has always been a joke and the weak souls who could not meet the "Airborne standard" are not worthy of the company of drunks, children or our very own preacher.

Clear Sergeant...AIRBORNE!!

[another damn texan]

Airborne school used to be a tough school although it was way before most of us ever attended it. I'm pretty sure my old pastor who jumped in Market Garden didn't have a cute little cadet in his chalk.

To hijack he is on the Airborne walk of fame as one of the original Parachute Test Platoon guys. His name is Edgar Dodd and he was a hell of a guy. He baptised me. All I ever knew about the guy was he was in the Army and fought in WWII. I was at church camp and he took off his shirt and he had several weird scars on his back (aka bullet holes). Us kids asked him what those scars were and he just told us that a man tried to kill him one day. Nothing more.

I found out later more about what he did once I was in the military but he had unfortunately passed on. A true quiet professional if you ask me. I wish I could have talked to him more.

[RRDTm3]

Yeah that's a shame...Because jump school used to be hard?

Used to be, Halo, now there is a fucking smoker!

[Bulldawgs07]

That's not surprising when they drop the pullup requirement and don't enforce the PT test standards at Airborne School. I saw people having to rest at 10 pushups, yet somehow managing to have 32 more half assed pushups counted. The BC openly admitted to my buddy that all he cared about was numbers and "why should the 82nd get all the good Soldiers, while the 10th Mountain get's the failures."

Yeah that's a shame...Because jump school used to be hard?

I'll tell you a secret, people that cling to Airborne status as a means to align themselves with something elite is (at best) pathetic.

I say this because once you exit the aircraft gravity does all the work and all you have mastered at that point is falling down. Falling down, let's discuss falling down.

Drunks fall down and normally do it without injury
Little kids fall down all the time
Our very own preacher has most likely fallen down several times and has only had to use his "Life alert" to summon assistance a maximum of 5% of the time.

In closing I am of the opinion that Airborne school has always been a joke and the weak souls who could not meet the "Airborne standard" are not worthy of the company of drunks, children or our very own preacher.

I agree with what you're saying Ranger Silverback. I was just pointing out the complete lack of any standard now, not the loss of some sort of "eliteness" that probably hasn't been there since the Korean War era.

[Ranger Bill]

Airborne training has never really been hard or tough. It's actually fun. But it does take a bit more of daring, guts or stupidity, depending on your view, than the average Joe has to jump out of an airplane. And the big difference throughout the history of Airborne units is that for the most part the missions they have been assigned, and to this day are assigned, are those of a more demanding nature. More is expected of them.

[battleforcebulldog]

Airborne School was one of the biggest disappointments when I went in 1990. I thought I would be physically and mentally challenged. I actually worked hard to make sure I could do 6 or 8 pullups which was the alleged "standard. I built a pull-up bar in the back yard. During the first PT session, I watched a guy do 3 pullups and then fall. I was sure he would soon be sent packing. Nope, he was told to do 10, just 10, push ups and move out. The runs were a joke too, I don't think I ever had to open my mouth to breath. I think they should make a seperate Paratrooper School and an Airborne Course.