(12-31-2019, 11:04 AM)flsprtsgod Wrote:

(12-30-2019, 06:48 PM)jagibelieve Wrote: You know what?  Upon thinking about this further I think that you are right.  The "normal" thought is that when a child reaches the age of 18 they are all of the sudden an "adult".  That might have been true in earlier times, but in today's world I question whether or not a 21 year old is an "adult".  I think it's pretty rare nowadays to see an 18 year old that is "adult".

As much as I hate to say it, I think that the minimum age to join the military should be raised to 21.  From what I see every day working with the military, young members (basically under 21) are not nearly as responsible as they were when I served.  If I look back to generations before me, 16 year old's were much more responsible than many of today's 21 year old's.

Of course, in an ideal world there would be no government restrictions and we would let natural selection take it's course.

I don't really agree with the 21 age limit for much of anything. 18 year olds are adults and should have all the rights and privileges of adults in this society. Perhaps if the military needs more mature recruits then they should consider some type of transitional program, similar to ROTC or military school, for "cadets" who enter at 17 or 18 and transition to the full service branches or to the Military Academies after graduation at 20. We used to do that with the Citadel and VMI and other schools, no reason we couldn't bring that back full force. It would probably give the military a much more highly educated talent pool to work with right from induction.