Once these recruits couldn't make the cut. Now they make up a quarter of Army troops.

[rangerrebew]

Once these recruits couldn't make the cut. Now they make up a quarter of Army troops.
Story by Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY • 3h

FORT JACKSON, SC – Every Tuesday before dawn, hundreds of hopefuls line up with exposed midriffs to be weighed and measured at this South Carolina Army base, which takes in more recruits than any other.

For course trainees, a drop in body fat could mean shipping out to begin a career in the Army within days. Otherwise, these future soldiers are consigned to another week working off the pounds.
 
Anticipation and anxiety pervade as they file one by one past a desk where a drill sergeant informs each one of their fate. Some cheer for joy. Others wipe away tears.

Trainees like these, who wouldn't have made the cut due to poor test scores or struggles with pushups a decade ago, now make up nearly one quarter of the U.S. Army's new recruits.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/once-these-recruits-couldn-t-make-the-cut-now-they-make-up-a-quarter-of-army-troops/ar-AA1LZHXo?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=68bc0b0c01ad4b0f9ee7a6b3d8f0e055&ei=151

[rangerrebew]

Anticipation and anxiety pervade as they file one by one past a desk

It sounds EXACTLY like verbiage the MSM uses to write sob stories about illegal aliens.

[Timber Rattler]

A "sizable" but "not significant" portion of academic trainees didn't speak English as their first language, according to Capt. Matthew Lugowski, the course commander. Some in the course still couldn't speak "a lick" of English, he said.

So how'd they get recruited and under contract in the first place?

In a room at Fort Jackson next to the paved outdoor area where trainees strain through sweaty workouts, one wall is covered in scribbled-on sticky notes. Its official name – the Why Wall.

Trainees' messages on those notes say "free college", "get me and my kids out of a bad situation", "to make my family proud" and "I needed money and couldn't find a job."

"I'm not a failure," another note read.

For many hopefuls at Fort Jackson, the "why" is rooted in the struggles they left behind at home – poverty, homelessness, sexual assault and the loss of loved ones.

"My mom worked three jobs, and I still send money back to help pay bills," said Diego Gutierrez Serrano, 18, who grew up in a small town outside Worcester, Massachusetts. He saw the program as a path out of poverty and a way to avoid becoming "another statistic like all the other kids."

Lea Creech, 22, of Milford, Ohio, said she was the victim of sexual assault, a traumatic experience that led her to sign up for the course. "I wanted to not only get my history back, but get my body," she said.

"Making sure I'm proud of myself every day," she said, tearing up. "That's why I'm here."

This is disturbing too.  Not one of them mentioned serving and defending their country as their prime motivation.  It's all for selfish or personal "get ahead" or "escape" reasons.