Army lifts ban barring mentally ill from enlisting

G-VilleTider

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...nd-drug-abusers-to-meet-recruiting-goals.html

Facing low recruitment levels, the U.S. Army quietly lifted its ban on allowing people with a history of mental illness, self-mutilation and drug abuse to serve in the military – despite warnings from the industry about the risks involved.

The new rules green-light recruits who have bipolar disorder, depression and issues with cutting – a process in which a person takes a knife or razor to his or her own skin – along with those who bite, hit or bruise themselves intentionally.

“I am shocked,” Craig Bryan, executive director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at The University of Utah, told Fox News. “This contradicts everything we have been working toward for the past 10-to-15 years.”
This is an absolutely horrible idea.
 

Tide1986

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Well, if the mentally ill can operate a tank or fire an RPG, I guess they can own personal firearms as well. Quite a mixed message.
 
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2003TIDE

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I guess the military figures they do a crap job getting sane people and treating their mental health issues after service. Might as well enlist them with mental health issues.

Seriously though someone should be fired for even suggesting this. There are lots of other ways to boost enlistment. Better pay, better perks and benefits while in and after service is over, not being in a constant state of war for 2 decades.

We've got the hardware and tactics figured out. As much money as we spend on the military, you'd think we'd be able to figure out the people part. Because without that you don't have anything.
 

Relayer

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I thought once they opened all combat roles to women the ladies would be flocking to the enlistment centers.
 

Tidewater

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I believe that Army is growing to 540,000 soldiers. You can't draft them any more so if they won't sign up, something has to give: lower standards or admit that we cannot enlist enough to fill that army up.
Personally, I'd rather not sign up people with a history of mental illness because that is just asking for serious trouble further down the line (see the shooting in Texas for an example of how that will manifest itself).
 

uafanataum

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I agree that I do not want someone that cracks under pressure next to me. Aldo, there are alor of suicides in the Army and pre-existing conditions may raise this rate. However, I know a guy in the Army that was, as a teenager, diagnosed with bipolar depression and still enlisted in the Army years ago and just hid it from them. He has been in like 4 or 5 years now and has not harmed anyone. So, data would suggest this is a bad thing but my real life experience says that not all of these people are going to hurt somebody.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I thought it was the worst idea I'd ever heard and then I remembered a bill in February basically arming all of them, in the service or not...
 

RammerJammer14

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Looks like this was just sensational/made up reporting by USA Today. According to the Army anyways:

http://www.military.com/daily-news/...o-change-standards-mental-health-waivers.html


The U.S. Army said Monday it has made no changes to its policy for granting mental health waivers to recruits entering the service...

..."Recent reports that the Army has changed medical entrance standards for those with mental health issues are inaccurate," Seamands said in the statement. "The Army has made no such policy change and follows the accession standards prescribed by the Department of Defense."...

...The Army, however, said it made a "simple, administrative change" to how waiver requests are approved, Seamands said.
"Previously, these waiver requests could only be approved at the Department of Army Headquarters level," Seamands said. "What the Army has done is change the delegation authority over who may consider a waiver, allowing those requests to be reviewed and approved by U.S. Army Recruiting Command, or in the case of the National Guard, by the State Adjutant General."
 

dvldog

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"Simple admin change" . IOW....The closer you get to recruiters who have to make quota, the more waivers will be granted.
 

Displaced Bama Fan

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Let them train with wooden guns and rubber knives and then it when it's go time drop them into Afghanistan and in separate crates have their guns, ammo & knives so they can't shoot the pilots or jump master.

Objective - Clean sweep. Start with Afghanistan, then work their way into Pakistan and over to Iran.
 

Tidewater

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"Simple admin change" . IOW....The closer you get to recruiters who have to make quota, the more waivers will be granted.
Yep. Exactly.

I'd rather the Army just say, "We are not able to expand the army to 540,000," than to meet that goal by bringing in those with mental illness histories."
 

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