Army Lowers Recruiting Standards To Allow Soldiers With History Of Self-Mutilation, Bipolar

[Swordsmyth]

Since the beginning of the year, much ink has been spilled about the Army’s increasingly desperate attempts to fill its lofty recruiting quota for fiscal year 2017-2018: That is, 80,000 new soldiers. To hit that number, the Army has repeatedly loosened its recruiting requirements. Last month, the military introduced a new policy that would forgive recruits with a history of marijuana use or certain marijuana related criminal violations...
...and now, the military is taking those efforts one step further, with USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/12/army-lifts-ban-recruits-history-self-mutilation-other-mental-health-issues/853131001/)reporting today that the Army has expanded its criteria for granting “waivers” to certain recruits who violate criteria related to mental-health violations like having a history of bipolar disorder, or self-mutilation. The military said this expansion is justified by the increasing availability of medical records allowing recruiters to analyze a potential recruit’s history in greater detail to make a more accurate assessment as to whether they’re fit to serve.

More at: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-12/army-lowers-recruiting-standards-allow-soldiers-history-self-mutilation-bipolar-diso

[timosman]

What do they need them for? They are not even a cannon fodder. :rolleyes:

[Raginfridus]

These are probably pre-2009 standards. I couldn't get in because I was prescribed adderall when I was younger, but guys who enlisted before me I know were on all types of chemicals before (during and after) enlisting. I even had a letter from my then psychiatrist, my upper hooker upper, clear me and vouch for my normalitude.

More guys on the payroll usually means more works a comin...

[XNavyNuke]

Need more veterans with psych and criminal discharges to buy guns and cause more chaos in civvie-land. That will help justify the cop worship. Need more wolves to keep the coyotes in check. Farmer Jones has quite the gig running the animal farm.

XNN

[Voluntarist]

xxxxx

[oyarde]

From earlier this year:
Army to spend $300 million on bonuses and ads to get 6,000 more recruits (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/12/army-spend-300-million-bonuses-and-ads-get-6000-more-recruits/97757094/)


That works out to $50K per new recruit.

That seems like a lot of advertising money to me , but I guess TV commercials are very expensive .

[oyarde]

Wait a minute , self mutilation and bi polar ? Is not the Marine Corp going to be upset when they find the Army stealing its recruits ?

[timosman]

Wait a minute , self mutilation and bi polar ? Is not the Marine Corp going to be upset when they find the Army stealing its recruits ?

They would, if they were able to find out.:cool:

[Created4]

WASHINGTON – People with a history of “self-mutilation,” bipolar disorder, depression and drug and alcohol abuse can now seek waivers to join the Army under an unannounced policy enacted in August, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.

The decision to open Army recruiting to those with mental health conditions comes as the service faces the challenging goal of recruiting 80,000 new soldiers through September 2018. To meet last year's goal of 69,000, the Army accepted more recruits who fared poorly on aptitude tests, increased the number of waivers granted for marijuana use and offered hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses.

Expanding the waivers for mental health is possible in part because the Army now has access to more medical information about each potential recruit, Lt. Col. Randy Taylor, an Army spokesman, said in a statement. The Army issued the ban on waivers in 2009 amid an epidemic of suicides among troops.

“The decision was primarily due to the increased availability of medical records and other data which is now more readily available,” Taylor's statement to USA TODAY said. “These records allow Army officials to better document applicant medical histories.”

But accepting recruits with those mental health conditions in their past carries risks, according to Elspeth Ritchie, a psychiatrist who retired from the Army as a colonel in 2010 and is an expert on waivers for military service. People with a history of mental health problems are more likely to have those issues resurface than those who do not, she said.

“It is a red flag,” she said. “The question is, how much of a red flag is it?”

Source: USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/12/army-lifts-ban-recruits-history-self-mutilation-other-mental-health-issues/853131001/)

[Swordsmyth]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?516761-Army-Lowers-Recruiting-Standards-To-Allow-Soldiers-With-History-Of-Self-Mutilation-Bipolar

[Created4]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?516761-Army-Lowers-Recruiting-Standards-To-Allow-Soldiers-With-History-Of-Self-Mutilation-Bipolar

Sorry about that. This one can be deleted then....

[Swordsmyth]

Sorry about that. This one can be deleted then....

No problem, it happens to all of us.:)

[Danke]

No problem, it happens to all of us.:)


One should self exile for a week when this happens without doing a proper search first before posting.

[Raginfridus]

Wait a minute , self mutilation and bi polar ? Is not the Marine Corp going to be upset when they find the Army stealing its recruits ?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR9HuRUUTbs


https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_681465&feature=iv&l ist=PLPLUhZx-H7ztcRwh1An-Kvg5KGGojzFa8Zc&src_vid=xR9HuRUUTbs&v=mUtHkSw9nEY

[nobody's_hero]

Meh, they used to send inmates off to war.

[euphemia]

I do no see this as bing a good idea. *sigh*