Under-Reported News! Army LOWERED it Standards AGAIN to make #'s

[Up2Late]

(Looks like this was only reported in 2 newspapers, The Baltimore Sun and The Minneapolis Star Tribune and NO, the Washington Post was different, it reported the army reduced it's goal (number of troops) not quality of the recruits, as this article does.)

Army meets goals by lowering its standards

Wednesday, November 9, 2005
By Tom Bowman The Baltimore Sun

WASHINGTON - The number of new recruits who scored at the bottom of the Army’s aptitude test tripled last month, helping the nation’s largest armed service meet its October recruiting goal but raising concerns about its long-term future.

Former Army Secretary Thomas White said the service is making a mistake by lowering its standards. “I think it’s disastrous. You are throwing the towel in on recruiting quality,” said White, a retired general who was fired in 2003 by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over policy differences.

“We have clear experience from the 1970s with recruiting a sizable number of people from the lowest mental categories,” said White. After the Vietnam War ended, the Army accepted a higher proportion of low-scoring recruits, which led to training and discipline problems, he added.

In order to achieve last month’s recruiting targets, 12 percent of those accepted by the Army had the lowest acceptable results. They scored between 16 and 30 points out of a possible 99 on an aptitude test that quizzes potential soldiers on general science, mathematics and word knowledge.

<http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=23&ID=251888&r=1>
(more at link above)

The Washington Post story on the reduced numerical gaol is at the link below: <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/10/AR2005111001954.html?nav=rss_politics>