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US Army May Relax Physical Requirements To Recruit Cyber Warriors

Posted by samzenpus on from the couch-patrol dept.

HughPickens.com writes Clifford Davis reports that only 30% of young people between the ages of 17 and 24 are qualified to become soldiers. This is primarily due to three issues: obesity or health problems; lack of a high school education; and criminal histories. While cognitive and moral disqualifications have held steady, weight issues account for 18% of disqualifications, and the number is rising steadily. It's projected to hit 25% by 2025. The current Army policy is that every recruit, whether enlisting for infantry or graphic design, has to meet the same physical requirements to join — but that requirement may be changing. "Today, we need cyber warriors, so we're starting to recruit for Army Cyber," says Major General Allen Batschelet. "One of the things we're considering is that your [mission] as a cyber warrior is different. Maybe you're not the Ranger who can do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups and run the 2-mile inside of 10 minutes, but you can crack a data system of an enemy." "We're looking for America's best and brightest just like any Fortune 500 company out there," says Lt. Col. Sharlene Pigg. "We're looking for those men and women who excel in science, technology, engineering and math." Batschelet admits that a drastic change in physical requirements for recruits may be hard for some to swallow. "That's going to be an institutional, cultural change for us to be able to get our heads around that is kind of a different definition of quality," says Batschelet. "I would say it's a modernizing, or defining in a more precise way, what is considered quality for soldiers."

2 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. FUBAR Deluxe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Imagine a "cyberwarrior" (whatever the FUCK that is), who is having trouble with military discipline. The chain of command then starts fucking with him. Sooner or later, he does something really stupid. Then the bastards send him to a line unit. HOW THE FUCK is that motherfucker going to cope there?

    This is some seriously fucked up shit.

  2. Re:Physical requirements are not all that tough by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I got out in 1990 after serving for 7 years.

    Sure, I probably could have spent a lot of time working out and gotten to that point, but what's the point?

    So that the other people in your unit know that they can depend upon you to perform the physical requirements of being in a war zone.

    Anytime you introduce a selective pressure for one attribute, you're unwittingly selecting AGAINST other attributes.

    And I agree with that. 100%. Dr. Hawking wouldn't be physically able to serve (even if he wanted to). But you would want him working on your side.

    Do you want the best "cyber warrior" you can find, or the best "cyber warrior" who also happens to be able to do 13 pushups too?

    I prefer to substitute "Facebook" for "cyber" in these articles. It puts them in perspective.

    But that isn't the question. The question is whether these "Facebook warriors" will ever be deployed to a war zone.

    If yes, then they need to meet the physical requirements the same as every other soldier.

    If no, then hire them as civilians. Skip Basic and AIT and everything else. Classify them along with all the other GS-whatevers.