The Army has cut orders sending 800 NCOs to recruiting school. Included in the memo are the fact that none of the time-in-grade, fitness or evaluation restrictions will be enforced, and that anyone E-5 (Sergeant) or above who accepts the orders will get a one-grade promotion, $5,000, and then $1,500 a month if they accept a one-year extension of the duty. And then, if the recruiter recruits 24 people in a one-year period, they get another one-grade promotion.
To put that in perspective, the first year ($5K bonus plus E-5 to E-6 promotion), will be about 24-30% increase in pay, and the $1,500 extra per month for the next year will be a 50% bonus on top of that (and the E-7 promotion on top of that). So, a newly minted E-5 on their first enlistment could be an E-7 two years from now, doubling their pay (2nd year E-5 makes $2,730 a month, fourth year E-7 with the extension bonus would be making $5,405 a month).
Anyone want to bet against the Army dropping or severely reducing their recruitment standards?
Two point. One, in WWII, the highest fatality rates were actually among aviators and submariners, so per capita, we were killing off our smartest kids. And as far as the killing goes, WWI was worse. Imagine the 1920s and 30s if there hadn't been mass bloodshed in the trenches.