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Originally Posted by Jack Johnson  Remember his charges. I mean not even the army would take him. I know the 70ths where you could walk with a needle in your arm into a recruitment office and still apply are over, but they tend to take what they can get.
So a PMC might be a problem, despite what the media tells us they arent ruthless mercenaries who dont care for ones background, their just business firms, and as such a criminal history is going to be a problem. |
We do not "take what we can get". ~75% of Americans between the ages of 17-24 are ineligible to serve in any branch of the US Armed Forces due to criminal history, medical history, insufficient education and/or an inability to pass the entrance exam (ASVAB). Of those otherwise eligible - only 1 in 4 score high enough on the ASVAB to enlist in the US Army or US Navy or USMC. The Air Force and Coast Guard have even higher test standards.
Taken as a whole, it is easier to get in to a college or university in the US than it is to join the military.
The days of the military as a "last chance" career are long over. As one of the most (if not THE most - though I admit I'm biased) professional and technologically advanced armed forces in history, the US military can no longer afford to settle for lower quality applicants. And we don't.
Unfortunately, high standards applied across such a large organization occasionally means that applicants with checkered pasts (particularly those with juvenile records) who have matured, and would make good soldier,sailors, airmen or marines, get denied enlistment. Big organizations are not good at making exceptions, even when warranted.
As far as private military corporations - they are in large part on decline from their heyday of the early OEF & OIF years, so the opportunities are becoming more limited. In addition, they are typically looking for people with extensive military backgrounds, often looking specifically for people with backgrounds in special operations.
Adrian
