No High School Diploma - No Problem Says Army

by Emilio Lizardo | August 27, 2008 at 05:41 pm

1633 views | 9 Recommendations | 6 comments

If you've dropped out of high school for whatever reason, and if you don't have too many felonies on your police record, don't worry - the Army wants you!

Army opens prep school for dropouts to fill ranks
Aug 27, 6:58 AM (ET)

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) - Austin Swarner left high school to care for his mother while she fought a losing battle with cancer. Tony Brown wanted to begin supporting himself and left two classes shy of a diploma. Haelee Holden got tired of trying to make it through school while flipping burgers until 1 a.m.

But the U.S. Army, eager to fill its ranks amid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, doesn't see them as dropouts. They are recruits who only need a GED before they're ready to begin basic training.

And so, the Army formally opens its first prep school Wednesday.

"It's academic immersion," explained Col. Jeffrey Sanderson, chief of staff at Fort Jackson, home of the Army's largest basic training school. "Our studies show that with only three out of every 10 people of military age being capable of joining the Army, we are going to have to do something different."

That includes turning six World War II-era buildings at the base into a mini-campus of spartan classrooms and barracks. Under the yearlong pilot project, classes of about 60 soldiers will enter the monthlong program every week.

Their day begins in uniform at 5 a.m. with physical training. Then they attend about eight hours of academic review classes, followed by homework each evening. An hour of marching drills and military discipline is thrown in for good measure.

From a civilian site dedicated to US Army issues I located the following information on eligibility for entrance into the US Armed services in General.

Qualification Standards for Enlistment Appointment, and Induction

Eligibility.
Eligibility shall be determined by the applicant's ability to meet all requirements of this Directive, to include obtaining waivers. Applicants shall not be enlisted, appointed, or inducted unless fully qualified.

Education
Possession of a high school diploma is desirable, although not mandatory, for enlistment in any component of the Military Services. Section 520 of reference (a) states, "A person who is not a high school graduate may not be accepted for enlistment in the armed forces unless the score of that person on the Armed Forces Qualification Test is at or above the thirtyfirst percentile; however, a person may not be denied enlistment in the Armed Forces solely because of his not having a high school diploma if his enlistment is needed to meet established strength requirements."

Alternative credential holders (i.e., General Education Development Certificates and certificates of attendance and completion) and nongraduates may be assigned lower enlistment priority based on their first-term attrition rates.

Moral character.
Persons entering the Armed Forces should be of good moral character...

Those with significant criminal records.
Section504 of 10 U.S.C. (reference (a)) states that, "no person...who has been convicted of a felony, may be enlisted in an Armed Force. However, the Secretary concerned may authorize exceptions in meritorious cases, for the enlistment of...persons convicted of felonies."

Persons convicted of felonies may request a waiver to permit their enlistment. The waiver procedure is not automatic, and approval is based on each individual case. One of the considerations in determining whether a waiver will be granted is the individual's ability to adjust successfully to civilian life for a period of time following his or-her release from judicial control.

In processing waiver requests, the Military' Services shall require information about the "who, what, when, where, and why" of the offense in question; and a number of
letters of recommendation attesting to the applicant's character or suitability for enlistment. Such letters must be from nresponsible community leaders such as school officials, ministers, and law enforcement officials.

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Gh0s7

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 18:17 on August 27th, 2008

Emilio Lizardo, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Paschen

at 21:31 on August 27th, 2008

Emilio Lizardo

at 21:56 on August 27th, 2008

Thanks for the flags, folks!

at 22:31 on August 27th, 2008

moonwolf

at 23:43 on August 27th, 2008

Emilio Lizardo,

Scarey Stuff!

at 05:53 on August 28th, 2008

Not if you drink enough ...

Thanks for flag, MoonWolf !

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No High School Diploma - No Problem Says Army

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