Gen. Douglas MacArthur was using a figure of speech when he said: “Old soldiers never die.” But the Pentagon literally wants some old soldiers in their midst. The Defense Department has asked Congress to boost the enlistment age from 35 to 42. Since I am knock, knock, knockin’ on 50’s door right now, I am not in any position to call someone who is 42 years young, old. But 42 is around the age many military people retire and it seems kind of high end to start a new career as a soldier.
Because of the military’s reliance on the National Guard in Iraq, it isn’t uncommon to see those in their 50s being called up. My brother told me about a classmate of his who was being recalled to duty in the Guard and sent to Iraq. My brother is 62!
I don’t know how I feel about this proposal. I’m sure a good many people could hack basic training and going to war at 42. I would not have been one of them, but I paid my military dues as a younger man. What I do know is the Pentagon’s request shows the fix the military is finding itself in with recruitment challenges against the backdrop of the situation in Iraq.
And I kind of cringed when I heard it was Dr. David Chu asking the House Armed Services Committee to raise the age. Chu is the Under Secretary of Defense for personnel matters who made the astonishing statement to The Wall Street Journal in January that the amount of money going toward benefits for military retirees and veterans was “hurtful” to the nation’s defense. I guess it’s okay with Chu, and the administration for that matter, for youngsters and the middle-aged to go off and risk getting killed in war just as long as the government doesn’t have to pay for those soldiers’ retirement. It is just mind-boggling.
Someone once said that the Army isn’t black or white. It’s green. Well, it may be gray too, along with the other services.