http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-983408.php
Snip:
Under current law, the maximum age to enlist in the active components is 35, while people up to age 39 may enlist in the reserves. By practice, the accepted age for recruits is 27 for the Air Force, 28 for the Marine Corps and 34 for the Navy and Army, although the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve sometimes take people up to age 39 in some specialties.
The Pentagon’s request to raise the maximum recruit age to 42 is part of what defense officials are calling a package of “urgent wartime support initiatives” sent to Congress Monday night prior to a Tuesday hearing of the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee.
At that hearing, David S.C. Chu, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said he felt the military’s recent problems with recruiting were improving, but that additional incentives would help.
If this is a serious consideration I would guess the "Old Folks" would be relegated to support services type roles like transportation, cooks, & HR thereby releasing more able bodied men to combat positions.
If older personnel could be found with the necessary intelligence, motivation and dedication to duty it would follow as a logical step to manpower concerns. However, I would not want to be some 35 year old guy being on the bottom of the food chain when most of his age peers would be at the first sergeant and major levels.
Snip:
Under current law, the maximum age to enlist in the active components is 35, while people up to age 39 may enlist in the reserves. By practice, the accepted age for recruits is 27 for the Air Force, 28 for the Marine Corps and 34 for the Navy and Army, although the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve sometimes take people up to age 39 in some specialties.
The Pentagon’s request to raise the maximum recruit age to 42 is part of what defense officials are calling a package of “urgent wartime support initiatives” sent to Congress Monday night prior to a Tuesday hearing of the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee.
At that hearing, David S.C. Chu, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said he felt the military’s recent problems with recruiting were improving, but that additional incentives would help.
If this is a serious consideration I would guess the "Old Folks" would be relegated to support services type roles like transportation, cooks, & HR thereby releasing more able bodied men to combat positions.
If older personnel could be found with the necessary intelligence, motivation and dedication to duty it would follow as a logical step to manpower concerns. However, I would not want to be some 35 year old guy being on the bottom of the food chain when most of his age peers would be at the first sergeant and major levels.
