America calls up people with criminal records to join the army due to lack of troops

The Army had planned to recruit 80,000 soldiers in 2018, but then had to reduce it to 76,500. General Joe Calloway said that in previous years, the force always exceeded its recruitment target by about 3,000-5,000. But this year was not as expected, even though the Army spent more than $200 million to invest in upgrading infrastructure and improving policies for soldiers.

The reason for this situation is that the US economy is on the path of strong recovery, companies also need to recruit a large workforce; that invisibly becomes a significant counterweight to the military because businesses offer higher incomes and better treatment policies.

There is also another equally important reason because many citizens register for military service but do not meet the military's standards.

US Army. Photo: Sputnik

In May 2018, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis also emphasized that only about 28% of American youth aged 18-24 are eligible to be called up for military service.

Not only is the Army lacking soldiers, the US Air Force is also facing the danger of not having enough pilots to operate.

This is the reason why the US has just had to call back thousands of retired pilots, General David Goldfein of the US Air Force revealed.

Along with the fighter pilots, the US Air Force is also facing a shortage of drone operators. This situation puts the US military at risk of a variety of different risks.

Right now, the US is only fighting terrorists in the Middle East, but in the near future, what will really be seen as an obstacle is large-scale conflicts - perhaps with Russia in Eastern Europe, with Iran in the Middle East, or with North Korea in Northeast Asia, or perhaps in all three regions.

To remedy this, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing the US Air Force to re-enlist about 1,000 retired pilots. The content of this executive order allows any military unit to only invite about 25 retired soldiers to re-enlist.

Not only that, the Pentagon also allows the enlistment of young men with criminal records, even those who have committed dangerous crimes, to make up for the current shortage of troops.

Statistics from the Pentagon show that the number of dangerous criminals, drug addicts, thieves... recruited into the US Army increased from 3,111 in 2003 to 6,901 in 2006, of which 901 were dangerous criminals.

Over the past three years, the entire US military has had about 100,000 "problematic" individuals recruited into the military branches. US Department of Defense officials say this is a way to help them correct past mistakes.

However, US lawmakers have expressed concern about this reality. According to them, lowering recruitment standards not only harms the military, but also sends the wrong message to those recruited into the military.