Army lifts ban on recruits with mental health history

[halfmileharry]

Is there a difference?

Mental illness by any other name.....

Difference without distinction

 

[HoughMade]

Is there a difference?

Mental illness by any other name.....

One is delusional, disconnected from reality and causes extreme mental anguish. The other is recognized as a disorder in the DSM 5.

 

[PaulKersey]

As has already been said, I began to question my own "soundness of mind" after a couple of days at the reception battalion at Ft. Benning. I thought the cadre even there were pretty hostile after threatening to send people who weren't even heavy to the "fat farm" aka "fitness training unit" prior to even entering basic training. When we got off the bus at our basic training unit on Sand Hill in 1988, I think most of the voices I heard didn't seem to be from stable human beings. I remember that one drill sergeant got up on a platform and referred to all of us as "computer babies" and went on to tell us that they (the cadre) didn't want us down there, and he seemed genuinely perplexed as to why were we there in the first place. The sarcasm was so deep, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There were enough of my fellow trainees of questionable stability even back then - I can't imagine that it's a good idea to issue waivers in the area of mental health.

 

[Brad69]

So on my first day as a Drill Sergeant my “mentor” had a Private wanting to kill himself.
He gave the Private a locking blade knife and told him to cut deep “this is going to be a long 24 months”.

 

[KellyinAvon]

With the press all talking about the two to three wars coming soon then recruits should be harder to come by.
USA vs North Korea
Nato vs Russia in Poland.
Suadi’s verse Iran.

Also so bring to mind Alice’s Restaurant song just in time for thanksgiving.

I've often mentioned the line, "cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug" on the Air Force-related forum I frequent when potential enlistees are having issues at MEPS over speeding and reckless driving tickets.

 

[KellyinAvon]

This is to avoid the necessity of a draft...which will likely never happen again unless there is a true WWIII scenario.

I think every non-disability retiree will be recalled to active duty before there will ever be another draft. We are too far past 1973 and we have a high-tech military that does not lend itself to a conscription force. I was 3 during the Tet Offensive, 10 when Saigon fell, and joined the USAF 11 years later in 86. Desert Storm was nearly 16 years after the fall of Saigon and Desert Shield/Storm was 27 years ago!! Only 9% of the bombs we dropped were smart and most potential draftees weren't born yet (remember he footage shown by General Horner of the GBU-10 blowing the windows of of the building of his opposite number? 9%!) I retired in 2007 and I feel like I was around when we were flying balloons. I think we'll see contractors taking more and more of the support roles (we've already seen this, we can't go to war without them right now) as well as deployable civvie service at the big HQ in Tampa, Hawaii, etc. as well as Qatar (CENTCOM and AFCENT Forward).

 

[JAL]

With the press all talking about the two to three wars coming soon then recruits should be harder to come by.
USA vs North Korea
Nato vs Russia in Poland.
Suadi’s verse Iran.

Also so bring to mind Alice’s Restaurant song just in time for thanksgiving.

First thought that came to mind with the thread's title: they've reinstated the Group W Bench.

John

 

[cerebus85]

The people who made this decision will never have to serve with someone who could be unstable due to mental illness, and its obvious. I have had the misfortune of serving with these type of people. some, through no fault of their own are sick and that's unfortunate. Others chose bad choices in life that should not allow them to carry a weapon behind me at night, and during an a emotionally and physically stressful event. This decision erodes the military. If we are stretched that thin maybe we should get out of other peoples messes and focus on our own.

 

[WWalker]

Should be a good pool to draw from when they start forming their " Dirty Dozen " units

 

[halfmileharry]

The people who made this decision will never have to serve with someone who could be unstable due to mental illness, and its obvious. I have had the misfortune of serving with these type of people. some, through no fault of their own are sick and that's unfortunate. Others chose bad choices in life that should not allow them to carry a weapon behind me at night, and during an a emotionally and physically stressful event. This decision erodes the military. If we are stretched that thin maybe we should get out of other peoples messes and focus on our own.

I find nothing you said I can't agree with.

 

[thunderchicken]

I never served in any branch of the military. But I can certainly understand the concerns. I confess, my response was some people have no business having access to a gun, and are incapable of handling a high stress environment. This decision fefies logic. Then I thought oh this also for lack of better description, shoots us gun owners in the foot. We have been combating the antigunners with sound logic that we need to stop people with certain mental health issues, mental health histories from being able to posess guns. We have likewise been saying that mental health concerns are a real link behind mass shootings. Now, our government is not only going to give them access to guns but also train them. This is a really bad situation.

 

[halfmileharry]

On the other hand.... Maybe these soon to be mass murderers are best served by putting them in a hostile environment so they can destroy other cultures and leave ours alone.
All BS aside now. Hopefully a more stringent screening process will catch the flies in the soup.