Army.com – Military Recruitment In High Schools Raises Questions: “At the heart of this matter is Rochelle’s own admission of “overlooking or concealing problems and police records that might make a recruit ineligible.” Most notably is the case of a 17-year-old high school student in suburban Denver, David McSwane, who posed as a drug user and dropout for an article for his school’s newspaper. Recruiters assisted McSwane with passing a drug test, manufacturing a fake diploma and getting around physical fitness requirements. In Houston, TX a local television news station, KHOU, broke the story of a recruiter who threatened to arrest a young high school student if he failed to show up at the recruitment station. And in Ohio a mentally ill student was signed for military service despite prohibition of such enlistments. His medical records were available but were never requested by the military according to his parents.”
I found this article, surprisingly critical in tone given that it was on the Army’s website, when I was searching around to find out if a high school diploma was required to enlist. I thought about this because when I was traveling in Philadelphia in June, I saw an ad on the subway for the Army sponsored Operation Graduation. I’ll have to dig through my journal to find the exact text of the ad, but it featured an image of a man in a 1970s looking suite saying something like “Of course I hire high-school dropouts – who else will work for that cheap?” The point of the advertisement was to tell kids that dropping out of high school will put them at the mercy of exploitative employers. I thought it was ironic that the Army sponsored such an ad since, as this article indicates, Army recruiters are more than willing to try to enlist those with limited education or play on economic concerns. When Defiance, Ohio played in the military town of Goldsboro, NC, I met a boy who was so sweet and quiet that I couldn’t imagine him having to go overseas and do battle with anybody, and he told me that he hated the army but joined because he had to help his mom out.
This page on the army.com website offers some ambiguous information about whether a high school education is required to join the army. It first lists “a high school diploma or equivalent (such as a GED)” as a basic qualification for enlistment but then goes on to say “You are not required to have a High School Diploma.” (The “not” is actually in bold on the website.)