42
July 21, 2005
News & Politics
"That's the new and improved cut-off age for enlistment - for all branches of military service.
Uncle Sam wants you - even if you’re 42 years old
The Defense Department quietly asked Congress on Monday to raise the maximum age for military recruits to 42 for all branches of the service.
Under current law, the maximum age to enlist in the active components is 35, while people up to age 39 may enlist in the reserves. By practice, the accepted age for recruits is 27 for the Air Force, 28 for the Marine Corps and 34 for the Navy and Army, although the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve sometimes take people up to age 39 in some specialties.
The Pentagon’s request to raise the maximum recruit age to 42 is part of what defense officials are calling a package of ‘urgent wartime support initiatives’ sent to Congress Monday night prior to a Tuesday hearing of the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee."What else is on the table to encourage joining up? ...Convincing a friend to join could put up to $2,500.00 in your pocket. Re-enlistment bonuses of up to $90,000.00, hazard pay of up to $750.00/month, enlistment bonuses of up to $40,000.00..."
Stretched too thin
An Army-financed report says that unless the service increases the number of heavy brigades in its force structure or sees its deployments scaled back significantly, readiness will suffer and there will be few, if any, brigades to turn to in a crisis.(All Spin Zone)
