I believe that applies to military recruits, but doesn't that also apply to most working-class people younger than baby boomers, including those who have college education and white-collar jobs?
It is said that "[f]ewer than 3 in 10 people between ages 17 and 24 are fully qualified to join the army; that means they have a high school degree, have met aptitude test score requirements and fitness levels and would not be barred for medical reasons, their sexual orientation or their criminal histories" (Lizette Alvarez, "U.S. Army Granting More Waivers for Criminal Backgrounds," 14 February 2007, <http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/14/news/military.php>). If true, that says a lot about the state of US working-class youth (rather than the US military), who are so poor that they are too unhealthy or uneducated or have too many criminal records to qualify for military service.
The same article, as its title indicates, says that the military has relaxed its standards regarding criminal and medical records: "The number of waivers granted to U.S. Army recruits with criminal backgrounds has grown nearly 65 percent in the last three years, increasing to 8,129 in 2006 from 4,918 in 2003, Defense Department records show. . . . The number of waivers issued for felony convictions also increased, from 8 percent to 11 percent of the 8,129 moral waivers granted in 2006. . . . The army enlisted 69,395 men and women last year. . . . [S]oldiers with criminal histories made up only [sic] 11.7 percent of the army recruits in 2006. . . . The Defense Department has also expanded its applicant pool by accepting soldiers with medical problems like asthma, high blood pressure and attention deficit disorder, situations that require waivers. Medical waivers have increased 4 percent, totaling 12,313 in 2006." Increases in recruits with criminal records and poor health are probably also indications that the military is accepting more of really poor youth than before, as poverty, poor health, and trouble with law often go together. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>