The Navy has a solution.

https://www.navytimes.com/news...ma-or-ged-to-enlist/

Navy to allow those without high school diploma or GED to enlist

By Diana Stancy Correll
Jan 26, 05:20 PM

The Navy said Friday that it will allow those without a high school diploma to enlist as long as they score a 50 or higher on the Armed Forces Qualification Test that all prospects must take, the latest move to boost recruitment in the face of an historic recruiting crisis reverberating across the services.

Those without a General Educational Development, or GED, credential will also be able to enlist, as long as they hit that test score threshold, according to the Chief of Naval Personnel’s office.

Federal law allows the military to recruit such applicants, and the Navy last allowed those without a diploma to enlist in 2000, according to CNP officials.

To date, the Navy is the only military branch currently seeking to recruit those without a high school diploma or GED as it works to expand the number of eligible candidates to join the service amid an historically challenging recruiting environment.

The Navy said the policy change does not mean the service is lowering its standards, and that these prospective sailors must still qualify for specific ratings based on their Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, line scores.

“This policy update benefits the Navy by expanding the potential applicant pool of highly qualified and motivated future Sailors who may have been impacted by COVID-19 trends of non-traditional schooling, early exit from high school to support their family, or a variety of other individual circumstances,” the Navy said in a statement Monday announcing the policy.

These sailors can also use free academic skills training programs and test preparation courses to help them earn a GED once they are in the service.

“Sailors who enlist under this policy change can achieve personal and professional growth by earning their GED while gaining experience in cutting-edge technologies and learning professional skills that allow them to exceed their expectations while serving in the Navy,” the Navy said.

The policy change “is another pathway of opportunity for previously excluded individuals to serve” and could result in 500 to 2,000 extra sailors signing up each year, according to the sea service.

It’s the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at expanding applicant eligibility after the Navy failed to meet its recruitment goals in fiscal 2023.

For example, the Navy adjusted the maximum enlistment age in November 2022 from 39 to 41, and raised the maximum enlistment bonus to $50,000 in February 2022.

The Navy also now offers a $75,000 maximum enlistment bonus for those entering the nuclear field under a policy announced in June.

The service also created The Future Sailor Preparatory Course, launched in April to help hundreds of prospective recruits meet the Navy’s body-fat entry standards. The program also includes an academic coursework pilot program and training that introduces potential recruits to Navy life.

Additionally, the service adjusted its policy so sailors who scored lower on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, part of the ASVAB, could still enlist. The change allows prospective sailors who score between the 10th and 30th percentile on the AFQT to join if their ASVAB individual line scores are high enough to qualify for a Navy rating.

The Navy announced in October that it fell short of the 37,700 target number accessions for the fiscal 2023, bringing in 30,236 new active-duty sailors. The service also recruited 1,948 Reserve enlisted personnel, a drop from its 3,000 goal.

The Navy also missed its officer goals, recruiting only 2,080 new active-duty officers rather than the 2,532 target, and 1,167 Reserve officers rather than the 1,940 target.

However, Navy officials claim that the service still recruited 6,000 more contracts that year than it did in fiscal 2022, and secured a higher number of contracts in December than it has in the past five years.

“We did better in ‘23 than we thought...and we’re going to get better in ‘24,” Chief of Naval Personnel, Vice Adm. Richard Cheeseman, said at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference this month.

The Navy is shooting to recruit 40,600 new active duty enlisted personnel in fiscal year 2024, plus 7,619 Reserve enlisted personnel. The service is aiming for 2,807 new active duty and 1,785 Reserve officers in 2024.

The Army briefly permitted those without a high school or GED diploma to enlist in 2022, but suspended the program shortly thereafter.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H
Have they relaxed the weight standard? My neighbor's daughter is a recruiter and tells me this has been the big stumbling block in the past.

Assholes

I'm 58. I'd join the sky scouts to get my ticket!

The draft ended and "all volunteer force" had a damned good run of 50 years, where we had no shortage of high quality and eager to serve, best of America's Treasure.

But the sun has set, and we have such a piss poor "crop" to pick from in this time.

Young people that have no drive, little integrity, without love of country, nor patriotism, but filled with self centered ambitions, sense of entitlement and derision for anyone who identifies and holds dear the things that made this country and her people the greatness that the world embraced.

Unless something strikes a spark in the hearts of the youth and young adults, to motivate them to build a raging fire again, within themselves, we may find ourselves in the chapter of Roman, Egyptian, Babylonian, Greece, and Persian Empires.

Doesnt it take some smarts to run the advanced systems on modern warships? Especially submarines?
Someone who doesnt have brains, commitment, or common sense to graduate HS shouldnt be anywhere near these ships!

Off we go into the wild gray yonder...

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Doesnt it take some smarts to run the advanced systems on modern warships? Especially submarines?
Someone who doesnt have brains, commitment, or common sense to graduate HS shouldnt be anywhere near these ships!

Try running "General Quarters/Battle Stations" at 6' 2" 189 lbs. in fucking high heels, with fake eyelashes, and 14 pounds of silicone tits throwing off your balance, banging nothing except yer shins, on knee knockers...

Not a pretty sight.


But, in the end, the fish won't give a shit...

Let's hope Biden does not declare a national emergency which would allow the military to recall many military retirees. Perish the thought that those aged 60 and older are recalled!

Does not having a GED/diploma show a lack of dedication/follow-through? Potentially, but not necessarily.

Is it a definitive indication of a lack of intelligence? Absolutely not.

I've known people who were intelligent enough to pass high school, and who wanted to, but through personal circumstances were effectively forced to drop out before graduating (such as having to work to help support their siblings, or running away from an abusive home and being left to fend for themselves). Some of them went on to get their GED. Some didn't, and continue to just focus on working, since they were able to make a living even without it, often in the trades.

If someone doesn't have that piece of paper, but can then score the required 50+ on the AFQT for a waiver, that indicates that they're more intelligent than all the folks over the years with that piece of paper who went on to score a 31 (the bare minimum for enlistment with a diploma/GED).

After all, the required score of 50 is the average score on the exam, and the score is a percentile of 1-99, with 50 indicating that you've scored the same as or higher than 50% of the population. So they'd have to be as smart or smarter then about half the others, even without a piece of paper from a high school. And they're apparently smarter than all the other servicemembers who scored a 31-49 yet got in via the normal route.

So this isn't Forrest Gump/Private Pyle/"McNamara's Follies", where the less intelligent and even outright mentally challenged were knowingly enlisted just to fill boots during Vietnam. Those had AFQT scores of 10-30 (the bottom 10%-30% of the population).

Instead, these kids are just proving their average-or-better intelligence via an alternate route than a diploma/GED.


It's interesting that folks will grouse about the state of modern public education, and how kids these day don't learn anything in school... And then turn around and complain about how someone who doesn't have that same "worthless" piece of paper must be an idiot and would never be of any use, even though they will have demonstrated at least an average amount of applicable intelligence in another way.

quote:

The draft ended and "all volunteer force" had a damned good run of 50 years, where we had no shortage of high quality and eager to serve, best of America's Treasure.

I'm not opposed to compulsory military service, if like Israel, everyone serves for a relatively short period of time (2-4 years?).

However, what I'm really opposed to is the way the US military has been used as global cop.

quote:

Unless something strikes a spark in the hearts of the youth and young adults, to motivate them to build a raging fire again, within themselves, we may find ourselves in the chapter of Roman, Egyptian, Babylonian, Greece, and Persian Empires.

As a "nation" I think we were as good as it gets before WWI, when we became a "world power".
As an "empire", which we never should have become, we are clearly in decline.

Our military is over-extended, and over-used. But, even worse, we are being invaded and we are not defending our own borders.

Oh, I'd so very much LOVE to see a draft. It would be glorious! Think of all those whining, pissing leftist children getting the mother of all reality checks. Many of them would flee to Canada, many of them would seek deferment, but a lot would end up in basic, were the ghost of R. Lee Ermey would PT them until they fucking DIE!!

It really does look like that's where we're heading.

Rand Paul: It's Time The US Stopped Being "The Sugar Daddy Of The Entire World"

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

GOP Senator Rand Paul has called for the United States to stop paying for everything on the globe at the expense of its own people, asking “When did we become the sugar daddy of the world?”

https://twitter.com/RandPaul/s...r-daddy-entire-world




https://www.zerohedge.com/geop...r-daddy-entire-world

quote:

Originally posted by uvahawk:
Let's hope Biden does not declare a national emergency which would allow the military to recall many military retirees. Perish the thought that those aged 60 and older are recalled!

As a retired officer of AMED ( Army medical department) I am subject to recall to age 70 ! ( chaplains,medical and JAG are subject to recall to 70, line officers to 60)

Yep. I know of a former Army dentist who got recalled in his late 50s or early 60s during the height of the GWOT, years after getting out the first time.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep. I know of a former Army dentist who got recalled in his late 50s or early 60s during the height of the GWOT, years after getting out the first time.

Yes, but he probably did regular drills during that interim.

^^^^^^^^^^^
My former Dentist was called up during Desert Storm. He played cards for several months and suddenly started doing extractions. He told me many of these young recruits had no dental care. He describled Military Dentistry as just pulling teeth. No time for crowns and root canals.

Even if I was eligible I would never go back in. My last year or so was miserable, it was during the Clinton years and they were cutting heads any way they could. Those things stick with you, when they need you everything is good - until they don't need you.

Let them figure it out with their woke policies and stupid recruiting rules. The only consolation to our inept military leaders (and this looming crisis) is that Russia has proven they are not a super power and China's economy will most likely fail in the next 10 years. Both our largest potential enemies are in no better shape than us.

My only worry is hyper inflation that will make my life savings worthless and prevent me from retiring.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
...and remembering the pronouns.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"They/Them, yes They/Them!"

All part of the plan; get rid of true patriots, make going in the military as easy as possible for defectives, allow "migrants" to join the military as a path to citizenship. That way they get a military that is loyal to the party, not the country.