Comments on: Army Study: Bad Recruits Make Good Soldiers

By: J of The Sandhills

J of The Sandhills — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:17:52 +0000

co sign with those who say these dudes who join are trying to turn their life around. many do, some fail.

By: fsmarch

fsmarch — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:47:56 +0000

I agree w/ bean, in that military training is based on total conformity to the rules.

Those who have the intellect to think “outside the box” do not do well in the service.

By: Video Game Dork

Video Game Dork — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:37:21 +0000

Was I the only one who notices the contradiction here?
“According to an Army study, recruits with …are more likely to drop out….
Then:
…those bad soldiers also .. stay longer..”

By: Woman

Woman — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:07:10 +0000

Well, I joined the military because I was poor and unable to pay for college at the time. My experience as someone who was in the Army (Active Duty), is that the majority of people who join are looking for a way out. Some are trying to leave their small towns, the ghetto, abusive parents/relationships…a lot simply don’t have the means to get through school, like myself. Does that equate to having an “attraction” to a gang-like lifestyle or that recruits lack “creativity and internal drive” when they do well? I love how people who know people who were in the military once think they know anything at all about what is to serve in the Armed Forces. Every individual who has served the Army has his/her own unique view of what being a soldier was for them. I actually wrote more about this, but I deleted it, because I realize that it doesn’t matter. Being in the military is an experience, if you haven’t done it, you just don’t get it.

By: Lasse

Lasse — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:01:26 +0000

Violent people make better soldiers. What a surprise.

By: Taurean

Taurean — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:33:25 +0000

I’m in the US Army Reserve and have been arrested twice for B&E charges before i joined. It’s true, people with ‘unique’ backgrounds make for better leaders and soldiers in the long run. I personally wouldn’t want to be led by someone afraid to deviate from the bureaucracy that is our modern military. It’s called trust, something you don’t get from politicians.

By: CheeseDuck

CheeseDuck — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:58:57 +0000

These “bad” recruits probably already have all this great experience with weaponry and such.

By: Geekazoid

Geekazoid — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:44:24 +0000

Methinks they’re trying to put a ‘positive’ spin on recruits with previous criminal records. As you all may or may not know, the military has been in the news lately with stories of increasing numbers of recruits with felony backgrounds, etc., in order to boost numbers. The fact of the matter is, the military needs bodies, and needs them now. So probably this “study” was meant to put another side to that story.

By: Alecks

Alecks — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:43:58 +0000

“they will be a better person for having made that mistake and learned from it, than perhaps somebody who didn’t make the mistake and didn’t have the opportunity to learn.”

This makes me laugh. People who drive aggressively, do drugs, or involve themselves in criminal activity are likely to be people who are reckless, thrill-seeking, and maybe even psychopathic. Sure, feats that get rewarded with medals for valor may sometimes be done by soldiers who carry with them notions of courage, sacrifice, etc, but what if the guy’s just irrational, or doesn’t fear negative consequences, or craves stimulation?

By: bean

bean — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:03:12 +0000

Army training is specifically designed to break down recruits and rebuild them with only qualities the Army deems useful. More creative, intelligent and independent people are too resistant to conditioning to fare well in the lower ranks of the military, and are also less likely to commit petty crimes.

By: pwscott

pwscott — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:30:50 +0000

Still sounds like the “Dilbert Principle” to me.

By: Pol x

Pol x — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:06:43 +0000

Anonymouse

Oh sure, yes and you can tell them by their sloping foreheads and other curious Phrenological bumps.

C’mon!!

By: DCer

DCer — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:44:46 +0000

I worked with many people in the military and would say that the same attraction one would have to organized street gangs (authority where there was none at home, lack of internal drive) absolutely corresponds to the military lifestyle (strong center of authority, clear rules, obedience). This is not meant a criticism of the military. I found that people with creativity and internal drive did not fare as well because they bucked authority. A Junior gang member might really crave the ability to wear a Marine Corps tattoo.

By: Anonymouse

Anonymouse — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:17:22 +0000

It couldn’t be that persons of lower intellect are drawn to crime, and also happen to be more suggestible, and thus more likely to “tow the line” of military thinking, now could it?

No, probably not.