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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (97328)	1/28/2005 10:13:04 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793745

How about hiring foreign mercenaries? Would something like that ever be considered?

To: unclewest who wrote (97328)	1/28/2005 12:40:27 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793745

Re: high school diplomas. I dropped out during senior year for family reasons, took the GED, passed it easily, but could not get my diploma until I turned 18. That was the law. My younger son is slacking off in junior year, and I was thinking he should take the GED and do something else for a while, so checked it out, and it's still the law that he can't get the GED until he turns 18, or there is a certification that he would not benefit from high school, which appears to be a lot of red tape. The GED is a piece of cake for a reasonably bright kid. If I recall correctly, you can pass with 10th grade skills. 9th, maybe, can't recall if the math test requires geometry or just algebra. I thought the military used some kind of entrance exam? If not, why not? They could give the GED test and give the kids diplomas.

To: unclewest who wrote (97328)	1/29/2005 2:03:38 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793745

Hi Mike, I appreciate the passion you have for this subject. However, there are some facts expressed in this post which simply do not jibe with reality. The largest one being that todays military college benefits exceed the benefits provided by the old GI bill. No way, not even close. In the past, service in the military equated to a college education. Now, the GI Bill does not even offer a benefit that competes with many corporations. Oh sure, the hype and numbers sound wonderful. 50K dollars for college and so forth. But like allot of carefully laid out marketing plans, this one is full of holes the old GI bill never had. In order to receive benefits of of up to $32,400 in tuition in return for a three-year commitment on full-time duty. You contribute $100 a month for a year. Then you get $900 a month for three years, 19.5 times what you put in. Sounds great huh? Here's the catch, you pay for the tuition, books, and every other expense, then present the VA with proof that you're attending college, and they pay you a maximum of 900.00 per month to go to college. That is not paying for college! There is a big, BIG difference. An 18 year old who is trying to determine whether or not they should enter the service is going to compare these benefits with other employers benefits. If you work for the shipyard in Bremerton Washington and want to take masters classes, the shipyard pays 100 percent of the tuition, and books for you to attend college. It is true the service now pays 100 percent of tuition and books while you are on active duty. But tell me Mike, how many college courses are being taught in the sands of Baghdad? How many courses are being taught 800 feet beneath the ocean? How many courses are being taught and what college do you attend when you're working 15 hours a day, which is pretty typical of the first three years in the service? That's the difference, that's the reality, and anyone who believes the marketing hasn't lived and breathed the realities of the system in the past two decades. It would be foolish of us to think that potential recruits will fail to recognize this reality when they investigate entering the service. Heck, the benefits you get are not even indexed to inflation. How can this compare with a corporation which offers a set percentage, regardless of tuition increases? A set schedule, or a place near a college to attend, Obviously it cannot, and our military is suffering because people don't know or understand the facts. You want to increase recruitment? Simple, offer free college, room and board, books, tuition, etc, to any servicemember who completes a three year term of service in the military, and allow them to attend any college in the country they qualify to attend. Our country would benefit, just as they did with the GI bill, and our military would benefit as well.