On the "uneducation" of our troops
Briefly injecting a little truth into the argument
By Jeff Emanuel Posted in Culture — Comments (43) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
[UPDATE] The troops in the photo below have been identified as members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division (MN National Guard). Just makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over, doesn't it? :-)
h/t Powerline Blog
A very brief repast riposte [thanks Bob Miller] to Senator Kerry (D-NVA)'s "botched joke" regarding the lack of education on the part of our military (h/t California Yankee):
According to a 2005 report by the DOD,
* Over 90% of military recruits have a high school diploma, while only about 75% of their non-uniformed peers do
* Nearly 2/3 of today's recruits come from our nation's top half in math and verbal aptitude
* Socio/Economic status: military recruits mirror the U.S. population and are solidly middle class, like the country
And, from a report by the Heritage Foundation on "Who's enlisting in the military":
Overall, the wartime recruits are more similar than dissimilar to their civilian counterparts. The all-volunteer force displays near proportional representation of income backgrounds. Whites serve in approximate proportion to their population, although representation of minority groups varies. Recruits must meet educational standards, and the military provides resources for furthering education to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend four-year colleges. Although rural representation is disproportional, the military offers the opportunity to gain new skills and enter industries that are not available in rural areas.
With regard to income, education, race, and regional background, the all-volunteer force is representative of our nation and meets standards set by Congress and the Department of Defense. In contrast to the patronizing slanders of antiwar critics, recruit quality is increasing as the war in Iraq continues. Although recent recruiting goals have been difficult to meet, re-enlistment is strong and recruit quality remains high. No evidence supports arguments for reinstating the draft or altering recruiting policies to achieve more equitable representation.
Look, nobody's going to claim that there are no undereducated members of the military, any more than they should claim that there are no undereducated members of the US Senate. However, the combination of technical training and equipment received upon entry, and the minimum aptitude and intelligence tests and diploma/degree requirements for entry into the uniformed services, make for a fighting force that is neither undereducated, nor subpar regard to intelligence, in comparison to the American public as a whole.
More below the fold...
As mentioned in the Heritage report, beyond the educational and intellectual requirements for entry, the US Armed Forces are superb about providing an environment in which troops can increase their education levels while serving on active duty.
Every military post has an education office which caters to the active duty serviceman, offering courses from various two- and four-year colleges, both in residence and via correspondence, and providing a path to a degree – from Associates to Bachelors to Masters level – in myriad fields. The military also offers tuition assistance funding, which essentially renders enrollment in college courses free of charge.
These benefits are not difficult to take advantage of, either. During my own time in the military, the career field I served in had a fairly high operational tempo, and we spent a good deal of time either in training or out of the country, including a year abroad in Korea. The War on Terror was also raging for several of those years. However, I was still able to successfully complete over 100 hours of college coursework during that time, and at almost no cost besides effort – a testament to the benefit itself, to the user-friendly nature of the system, and, most importantly, to the US military itself, which went to great lengths to emphasize the importance of education, and to establish a ready means of achieving it.
The fact of the matter is that America’s armed forces are composed of some of the best, brightest, and bravest men and women that this great nation has to offer; however, outside of contested election seasons, the Left has never attempted to hide the fact that they hold the military, to a person, in absolute contempt. John Kerry, who in his own defense claimed that he had been “spending his entire career honoring veterans,” is a prime example of this mindset – from his Winter Soldier testimony in 1971, in which he invoked the name of “Jen-jis Khan” to describe our troops’ tactics (and said much, much worse, as well), to this week, when he cautioned students that a lack of education would result in military service.
Clearly, Senator Kerry needs to take the time to educate himself on the nature of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines he oversees as a member of America’s government; perhaps then he would learn that his contempt for those men and women who protect this great country day in and day out is, at the very least, unfounded.
« Hating James Dobson: To Heck With His Qualifications, He's a Meanie — Comments (14) | The REAL "chill wind" blows — Comments (84) »
On the "uneducation" of our troops 43 Comments (0 topical, 43 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Look, nobody's going to claim that there are no undereducated members of the military, any more than they should claim that there are no undereducated members of the US Senate
The Senate seems to have a disproportionately higher uneducated members that either the military or the US population. I mean there are many dim-bulbs there. Durbin, Kerry, Chafee, Cantwell, Boxer, Bunning, soon to be gone Dayton, Graham, Hagel, Harkin, soon to be gone Jeffords, Murray, Reid, Rockefeller, Stabenow, Stevens, and I probably left out a few.
Just as every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints - Sympathy for the Democrats
Intelligent, brave and....a sense of humor!
The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us - Voltaire
Kerry gaffe isn't going to sway any elections.
The election is a week away and this isn't a message that is going to change many, if any, votes in any non-Kerry campaign...and I'm pretty certain the John Kerry isn't running for anything at the moment. If this the best "message" the Republicans have at this point, then it is a party that is truly in deep trouble. Man I miss the Gipper.
At the end of the day, the most important issue in this election is the war and our successful prosecution of it.
Kerry has just reminded the nation that Democrats are not to be trusted with national security. Will this mean Nancy Pelosi's seat is suddenly in play? Nope. But I think he's succeeded in pissing off the R base enough so that they won't sit at home. Look for higher turnout from R's which will make a difference in several Rep and Senate races.
_______________________________
If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
Anecdotal evidence is pouring in: independents didn't like his "joke", but they like even less his refusal to simply say, "I blew the line, and I'm sorry."
There is a split among folks, some saying it was a dig on the troops and others a botched joke. But indies aren't seeing this as a Republican ploy. They see Kerry's non-apology as evidence that he doesn't understand the deep insult he handed our troops and the mindset it takes to give it to them. It's the non-apology that offends them most.
Anyone can flub a line, but here's the nub of it: the best you can say is he was playing with fire, and didn't apologize when someone more important than himself got burned.
--
Evil men hide from the truth, but good men stand upon it.
This may not swing many of the people who think about politics for about 45-seconds every two years when they have a ballot in front of them (though I happen to think it will) - but it will almost certainly have an impact on these folks - you know, the "teach 'em a lesson by blowing my own head off" crowd.
Jean Francois' idiocy probably just boosted GOP base turnout by about 5-points across the board - and they ain't gonna forget about it in the next 6-days.
In places like VA, MO, MT and perhaps even PA, that's going to matter.
Just saying.
-------------
"I don't know." -- Helen Thomas, when asked by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, "Are we at war, Helen?"
My coworker just said, "It's ok, he can joke - but everything Bush says is a lie." Uh.. what?
I wish this had more staying power, but what it's done can only help our chances of staying in the majority.
I think Jeff Emanuel meant "riposte" and not "repast".
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riposte
As for Kerry, he glides effortlessly from disgrace to disgrace.
Sincerely,
Bob Miller
Indianapolis, IN
_______________________________
If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
_______________________________
If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
But the photo of the soldiers with the deliberately misspelled banner was "food" for thought.
The bad news: Conservatism is hard to sell. The good news is that it works.
Laughed myself silly - what a wonderful way to communicate their message! Hope this shows up on all the MSM outlets...
Just showed it on FOX.
The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us - Voltaire
You know, when Chris Farley made a joke everybody laughed. But when John Effin Kerry makes a "joke", everybody either gets ticked off or has to attempt to explain it away. I would tell him not to quit his day job but he's no good at that either! He meant exactly what he said, further proving what the Dems really believe in.
Although rural representation is disproportional,
Hmm, could that be because the city kids are all liberals unwilling to defend the nation they hold so dear?
I wonder what this will mean for our future.
--
Evil men hide from the truth, but good men stand upon it.
Kerry says our troops are stupid people.
Rangel says our troops are poor minorities.
Therefore the Dem position is that poor minorities are stupid people. QED
99.3% of my fellow officers in the Air Force have at LEAST a bachelors degree. Like me, 22% of field grade officers have a professional degree after their bachelors.
I love the humor of military personnel- makes me laugh all the time! HOOOAH ARMY!!
United States Air Force
Cross Into the Blue
...what happened to the other 0.7%? When I was in the AF -- as it was when my father was in the AF -- a college degree was a requirement for commissioning.
Every once in a while, an enlistee is just that good.
--
Evil men hide from the truth, but good men stand upon it.
You have to figure that there is always going to be 20-30 individuals who have something out of the ordinary going on. I am just guessing, but maybe they were in school and didn't finish- or they were long time enlisted who went to OTS and hadn't gotten their degree. I do know that the USAF is proportionally MORE educated than American society at large..
United States Air Force
Cross Into the Blue
Just listened to Tony Snow's press conference and I am amazed (I know, I shouldn't be) at the questions that were out there. The one humdinger out there was a question that started off by saying since higher education is so expensive, and poor and middle class people can't access college, they turn to the military as their only way out.
Now that's a long way to go to excuse the trash that Kerry put out there.
"We make war that we may live in peace."
--Aristotle--
Charlie Rangel also went beyond the pale against Vice President Dick Cheney a couple of days ago, as reported in the New York Post:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10312006/news/nationalnews/rangel__veep_in_a...
Rangel said of the Vice President: "He's such a real son of a b**** [profanity in the original], he just enjoys a confrontation," Rangel fumed, describing himself as "warm and personable." Rangel said Cheney may need to go to "rehab" for "whatever personality deficit he may have suffered."
"When you have those sorts of problems, you're supposed to seek help," Rangel advised. "He acknowledged that he has problems with communication."
[End Quote from New York Post]
What was Cheney's communication problem for which Mr. Warm and Personable recommended rehab? Cheney said that if Rangel became Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he would prevent the tax cuts from being extended, resulting in a big tax increase. Since Rangel is on record as saying that none of Bush's tax cuts are acceptable to him, where has Cheney misspoken?
Granted, Rangel's calling the Vice President an SOB might get lost in the greater furor over Kerry calling our troops stupid, but someone needs to get the voters to reflect on who really has a "communication problem" needing "rehab".
Do we really want this man (Rangel) as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee? Methinks the Dems need Anger Management!
The bad news: Conservatism is hard to sell. The good news is that it works.
I like how Kerry claims to be so intelligent. I also like how he claims President Bush is so stupid. The reason I like it so much is because President Bush finished with a higher average at Yale than he did! So trying to be educated didn't work for him. Lo and behold, serving in the military didn't work for him either! Kerry's recipe for success? MARRY A RICH WIDOW!
How honorable!
political ad, nationwide. It is worth a million words.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
I agree with your essay, but in the process of pointing out the relative education levels of the troops, senators and the general population, let's not disparage the less formally educated as having any relation to the relative levels of "smarts", not to mention wisdom, as compared to those that spent more time tied to chairs and forced to endure liberal indoctrination.
The stupidest ideas invariably come from those that have most formal education. See liberal university professors, liberal media types and liberal democrats. I see a trend here. there seems to be a direct correlation between stupidity and liberalism.
See also ivy league grads in the senate (kerry, et al) and the libs on the supreme court.
http://devine-gamecock.townhall.com and www.race42008.com
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
John
--------
Democratic civilization is the first in history to blame itself because another power is trying to destroy it.
... Jean-François Revel
because he just hit one out of the park...
I see a trend here. there seems to be a direct correlation between stupidity and liberalism.
LOL
Just as every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints - Sympathy for the Democrats
correlates so much as educated correlates with liberal. Then the stupid ones stay liberal and most of the smart ones begin to outgrow their education.
The only absolute exception is public employees. If you go straight from school to public employment, e.g., teachers, college professors, you can keep the same ideas you had smoking dope in a college dorm for the rest of your life.
In Vino Veritas
Educated fools...
_______________________________
If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"?
That was how I intended this:
the combination of technical training and equipment received upon entry, and the minimum aptitude and intelligence tests and diploma/degree requirements for entry into the uniformed services, make for a fighting force that is neither undereducated, nor subpar regard to intelligence, in comparison to the American public as a whole.
http://devine-gamecock.townhall.com and www.race42008.com
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
Just another way in which the Dems prefer formally-trained experts to experience and good sense.
(They really do want to be French, I think...)
"During my lifetime, all our problems have come from mainland Europe, and all the solutions from the English-speaking nations across the world." - Thatcher
...claiming the picture is fauxtography.
Is there any way to get Drudge to post this photo?
------------
The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke