Enlistment
in the U.S. military is capped at 34. That was designed for an era
when the computer didn’t exist and far fewer technical and
electronic devices existed; not to mention software and system’s
analysis.
If
the military wants to assure that is has software developers without
decades of experience it should keep the present enlistment age. If
it wants computer people that have been working in the field for a
half century it might want to raise the enlistment age for tech work
in select MOS’s to age 60.
Those over 34 would need to show several years of pre-existing training and education in a field the military deems useful.
Those over 34 would need to show several years of pre-existing training and education in a field the military deems useful.
There
would probably be fewer adjustments required of the military for older people than those needed for
trans-gender soldiers and homosexuals. Older people merely need
reasonable accommodation, and should probably learn to shoot .357
magnum semi-automatic pistols instead of Army combat rifles.
Older
intellectuals that would enlist to serve to keep the national defense
tight probably should have height and weight criteria and some basic
soldier skills training, however it should be soldier skills express
in a basic training regime designed for older enlistees.
It
might be useful to have separate services rankings for elder tech
enlistees equivalent in military nomenclature for E, WO, and O; they
could be T or Technical soldiers somewhere parallel to WOs.
