Army Lowers Standards to Ease Recruitment Crisis

When faced with defeat, move the goalposts: Facing recruiting shortages brought on by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has decided to accept a greater number of recruits who score near the bottom of military aptitude tests, the secretary of the Army said Monday. Coming off a recruiting year in which the Army fell short of its goal of 80,000 active-duty soldiers, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey announced that the Army would allow up to 4% of its recruiting class to be Category IV recruits — those who scored between the 16th and 30th percentile in the battery of aptitude tests that the Defense Department gives to all potential military personnel.Maybe this desperation is why they're harassing and jailing veterans who peacefully protest campus recruitment drives.UPDATE: See also this story about military recruiters helping teens fake high school diplomas.