Study: Most Young Americans Aren't Fit For Military Service
Health, Education, Criminal Record Are Main Disqualifiers, According To Heritage Foundation
By Gretchen Brown
Air Date: Friday, February 23, 2018, 4:30pm
Among President Donald Trump's priorities since taking office has been a push to bolster the U.S. military with increased funding and recruitment. But how many young American adults are fit to serve?
According to a new report from the Heritage Foundation, not many. The conservative-leaning think tank calculates 71 percent of Americans ages 17 to 24 aren’t eligible for service in the armed forces, even if they want to join.
"It really makes it hard to get the right number of people for our military," said Tom Spoehr, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense and a retired Army lieutenant general.
Spoehr, who co-authored the report, said ineligibility generally falls in three categories: health problems, lack of education, and criminal records.
https://www.wpr.org/study-most-young-americans-arent-fit-military-service
