What goes around, comes around: “The Army last month stopped accepting felons and recent drug abusers into its ranks as the nation’s economic downturn helped its recruiting, allowing it to reverse a decline in recruiting standards that had alarmed some officers.” Thus begins an Ann Scott Tyson piece reporting that “rising unemployment, security gains in Iraq and other factors have helped make military service more attractive and have allowed recruiters to be more choosy.”
And so things have gone since 1973, when we abandoned the draft for an all-volunteer force. As with any other line of work, it’s easier to fill billets with quality candidates when demand for their services is low.
