Consider this to be a very bad idea. From a military recruiting standpoint just about the worst possible idea you could come up with.
Thanks to Freeper and a variety of sources dysfunctional persons will now be allowed to enlist in the army.
Mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, self-mutilation [cutters] no longer be a bar to enlistment! Red flags no longer red flags.
1. "Self-Mutilators and Bi Polar Wackos – The Army’s Future Soldiers"
"I really have to stop asking myself what’s next in the military’s long, twisted, dark journey into the subterranean hell known as political correctness and general stupidity. As part of the military’s current trend of giving the unqualified a chance to serve; of allowing every freak of nature, social misfit, SJW [social justice warriors] and dud on active duty, the army has announced that they will be granting 'waivers' to certain recruits who violate criteria related to mental-health violations like having a history of bipolar disorder, or self-mutilation."
2. "Army lifts ban on cutters, mentally ill and drug abusers to meet recruiting goals"
"Facing low recruitment levels, the U.S. Army quietly lifted its ban on allowing people with a history of mental illness, self-mutilation and drug abuse to serve in the military – despite warnings from the industry about the risks involved."
3. "Army lifts waiver ban for recruits with history of depression: ‘It is a red flag’"
"The U.S. Army quietly relaxed standards over the summer to allow potential recruits to receive waivers for a host of previous mental health issues — including self-mutilation. A 2017 recruiting goal of 80,000 new soldiers through September appears to be at the root of a decision to reverse a 2009 waiver ban on mental health issues. Documents obtained over the weekend by USA Today show a willingness to consider applicants with a history of bipolar disorder, depression, and drug and alcohol abuse."
A bad idea? The worst possible idea you could just about come up with? Without question!!
From that era of the Vietnam War fifty years ago think "Project 100,000". American youth for a variety of reasons deemed as unfit for military service. Nonetheless a special program began for induction into the U.S. Army.
"Project 100,000 . . . was a 1960s program by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to recruit soldiers that would previously have been below military mental or medical standards. Project 100,000 was initiated . . . in October 1966 to meet the escalating manpower requirements during American involvement in the Vietnam War"
Read those consensus conclusions of the project with hindsight the entire program a flawed concept from the very start.
coolbert.