Get out there and enlist, you tough-talkings sacks of *****.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7962861
Mon Mar 21, 2005 02:26 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, stung by recruiting shortfalls
caused by the Iraq war, has raised the maximum age for new recruits for
the part-time Army Reserve and National Guard by five years to 39,
officials said on Monday.
The Army said the move, a three-year experiment, will add about 22
million people to the pool of those eligible to serve, from about 60
million now. Physical standards will not be relaxed for older recruits,
who the Army said were valued for their maturity and patriotism.
The Pentagon has relied heavily on part-time Army Reserve and Army
National Guard soldiers summoned from civilian life to maintain troop
levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. Roughly 45 percent of U.S. troops
currently deployed for those wars are reservists.
At home, the all-volunteer Army has labored to coax potential recruits
to volunteer for the Guard and Reserve as well as for active-duty, and
to persuade current soldiers to re-enlist when their volunteer
commitment ends.
Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, an Army spokeswoman, said the maximum
enlistment age for the regular Army will remain 34. While congressional
action was not needed to raise the age for the Guard and Reserve,
Robbins said, Congress must approve any change for the active-duty
force.
"Raising the maximum age for non-prior service enlistment expands the
recruiting pool, provides motivated individuals an opportunity to
serve, and strengthens the readiness of Reserve units," the Army said
in a statement.
Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said it was
possible after the three-year test ends in September 2008 that the
Pentagon may consider an enlistment age for Army reservists even older
than 39.
(snip)
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