Not Too Bright

Not like I thought the military was going to be mentally taxing, except in a Catch-22 kind of way, but the news that the worst and the dullest have a chance to be an "Army of One" is kind of disheartening.

WASHINGTON
-- At a time when the Defense Department is calling for "the best and the
brightest" to fight today's unconventional wars, the Army is signing up
thousands of low-scoring recruits, who historically have performed less well, to
meet its recruiting goals.

Only two years ago, the Army accepted fewer
than 500 of these recruits, who scored below the 31st percentile on the Armed
Forces Qualification Test given all recruits. Those scores put them in Category
IV, the lowest the military can accept.

When the fiscal year ends next
month, the Army will have enlisted 3,200 Category IV recruits, Army officials
said. That amounts to 4 percent of the 80,000 volunteers the Army will enlist
this year. Last year, amid widespread recruiting difficulties, the Army accepted
2,900 Category IV recruits.

30th Percentile?