WFMZ: Report: 7 in 10 Pennsylvania youth ineligible to enlist in military
November 14, 2019 By Dave Fidlin
A strong economy, coupled with a rising number of ineligible Pennsylvanians, has contributed to all-time lows in the number of people enlisting in the military, a new report revealed.
Mission: Readiness, a nonpartisan organization, held a news conference and took the wraps off its new workforce readiness report in Pennsylvania. The document outlines how competition for qualified people in all employment sectors is affecting military recruitment.
Steve Doster, state director of “Mission: Readiness,” said there are parallels between the public and private sectors on the state of today’s youth and their pathway to meeting the needs of unfilled positions.
While the labor shortage for skilled manufacturing jobs has been well publicized in recent years, Doster said the gap in qualified Pennsylvania youth entering all branches of the military is less known. He said the goal of the new report is to shed light on the seriousness surrounding the shortage.
“Our report shows that our military is not insulated from these gaps in workforce readiness,” Doster said.
At a news conference Tuesday, retired Army Lt. Gen. Dennis Benchoff pointed out some of the statistics related to military investment within Pennsylvania last year.
When 2018 came to a close, Benchoff said the Army missed its recruitment goal by about 6,500 persons, or 8.5 percent. Additionally, the Army National Guard and Army Reserve missed their goals last year to the tune of a combined 17,000 recruits within the state.
The military is in “fierce competition” with the private sector, Benchoff said – a common issue when the economy is on an upward swing.
But there are other factors at play with the shortage, Benchoff and others at the news conference said, pointing to a need to allocate more resources to fund early childhood education.
Seven in 10 Pennsylvania youth today cannot enlist in the military, simply because they are ineligible in one or more key categories.
The list of qualifications, off the bat, includes graduating high school, passing a military exam, having a clean criminal record and being in good health.
Read the full article here.
FOX 43: Majority of youth are not qualified to serve in U.S. military, retired service members push for more education funding
November 12, 2019 By Chelsea Koerbler
A report released Tuesday details how the majority of today’s youth are not qualified to service in the military. Retired generals and admirals with Mission Readiness, joined by Governor Tom Wolf, and several lawmakers unveiled their ‘Workforce Readiness – The National Security Threat from Within’ report.
“I’m concerned about having a sufficient pool of talented recruits to serve in our military in a time of need,” said Lt. General Dennis Benchoff, United States Army, retired.
According to the report, more and more youth are not meeting military eligibility due to inadequate education, obesity, disqualifying health conditions or having a record of crime or substance abuse. In 2018, the U.S. Army missed its recruiting goal by 6,500 recruits. While the Army National Guard and Reserve missed its goal by a combined 17,000 recruits.
“The Services are forced to divert people from other things serving in other areas to those higher priority things,” said Major General Anthony Carrelli, Pennsylvania’s Adjutant General. “But then that leaves a hole somewhere else.”
The reports states 71 percent of youth between the ages of 17 and 24 do not meet the military’s eligibility requirements. Of the 29 percent of youth who do qualify, 13 percent are available and achieve a satisfactory score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test.
Read the full article here.
Tribune-Democrat: Retired brass warn too many young people aren’t up to snuff to join military
November 12, 2019 By John Finnerty
Retired military officers joined the governor Tuesday to call for increased early childhood education spending and fairer school funding to help increase the number of high school students capable of meeting the requirements to join the Armed Services.
Seventy-one percent of Pennsylvanians, aged 17-24, aren’t eligible to join the military either because they have a criminal record, or they don’t have a high school diploma, can’t pass the entrance exam or don’t meet the physical health requirements, according to a report released Tuesday by Mission: Readiness, an organization comprised of 700 retired generals and admirals.
“If we do not address this trend, we will risk not having a sufficient pool of talented recruits to serve in our military or in our civilian work force in the future,” said Retired Army Lt. General Dennis Benchoff, a Lancaster resident.
When willingness to serve is factored into the equation, the numbers are even starker. In May, the U.S. Department of Defense estimated that only 2% of young people nationwide are eligible “and have a propensity to serve.”
Low unemployment, coupled with competition from private employers, translated into the U.S. Army missing its 2018 recruiting goal by 8.5%, according to the Mission: Readiness report.
“I am committed to making investments in education at all ages to help ensure we provide Pennsylvanians with the skills needed for every open job and that includes positions with the Pennsylvania National Guard and all branches of the military,” Gov. Wolf said. “These investments start in the earliest years of life, when children are learning soft skills such as teamwork, time management and good communication.”
Read the full article here.
PA Post: Retired military leaders say Pa. schools need more money
November 12, 2019 by Ed Mahon
A group of retired military leaders says too many young Pennsylvanians don’t meet standard eligibility requirements for serving in the armed forces, and the country’s “thriving economy” makes the recruiting challenge even more difficult.
“Gaps in workforce readiness threaten our country’s future economic success and national security,” the group, Mission: Readiness, asserts in a new report released Tuesday.
The group’s proposed solutions include more funding for schools, high-quality care for infants and toddlers, and for pre-K programs. Stressed in the report is the need to do more to level the funding gaps between Pennsylvania’s richest and poorest school districts.
“Pennsylvania is home to the widest per-pupil spending gap in the nation between wealthy and poor school districts,” the report notes. “This gap has a very real impact on students. Pennsylvania’s wealthiest districts spend 33.5 percent more than its poorest school districts, a gap significantly higher than the national average of 15.6 percent.”
Mission: Readiness is part of the Council for a Strong America, a group of law enforcement, retired military, business, faith and sports leader who advocate on children’s issues.
The report does not suggest a specific dollar amount for the proposed funding increases. But the report says lawmakers need to do more to ensure young people in Pennsylvania are ready for college or careers, including military service.
“Nothing less than our economy and our national security depends on it,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Dennis Benchoff said Tuesday.
The report makes the case that young people aren’t leaving school with the skills they need, saying that about 7 in 10 people who are 17 to 24 years old don’t meet the military’s core eligibility requirements. The most common barriers include inadequate education, obesity or other disqualifying health conditions, or having a record of crime or substance use.
Read the full article here.
Penn Capital Star: OpEd: Veterans Day honors those who served. Now we need to look to the next generation of warriors.
November 11, 2019 by Thomas J. Wilson III, U.S. Navy Retired
“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.”
The nature of war may have changed since Gen. George S. Patton wrote those famous words, but the principle remains the same. No matter what we invest in weapons and technology, the men and women wearing the uniforms of our nation deliver the resourcefulness and skill that keeps America safe.
On this Veterans’ Day, we honor those who serve, but it’s also a time to cast our vision ahead to those who might someday serve.
Unfortunately, here is where we see potential problems. Like employers throughout Pennsylvania and nationwide, the U.S. military strains to draw recruits from an increasingly depleted workforce.
Low unemployment has created a hiring crunch, complicated for the military by the fact that nearly three out of four young Pennsylvanians do not qualify for military service due to educational deficiencies, health or fitness issues, or a criminal record.
If we do not address this eligibility problem and expand the readiness of young people, will we have the sufficient pool of talented recruits needed to serve in our military in the future? Will private sector employers have a sufficient pool of talented applicants needed to fill their labor force?
The retired admirals and generals of Mission: Readiness recommend a solution – investing in our young people today to better ensure the readiness of workers and service members tomorrow.
The starting place is to ensure greater access to high-quality child care and early education programs like pre-k. Research is clear that brain development from birth to age 5 sets the foundation for children’s future success. During these years, more than 1 million new neural connections form every second. This early foundation sets the stage for children’s cognitive ability, health and behavior throughout life.
The next step is to ensure that all students have the opportunity for a quality K-12 education, regardless of zip code, where these foundational skills can mature. Students should have access to smaller classes where more individualized instruction is possible, access to diverse academic offerings including STEM and Career and Technical Education, and access to critical lab, computer and other equipment that is so pervasive in our modern workforce.
Unfortunately, our public investments in our young people have not kept pace with the need. Many Pennsylvania families struggle to find and afford high-quality child care options for their children and more than 95,000 eligible 3- and 4-year-olds don’t have access to publicly-funded pre-k programs like Pre-K Counts and Head Start.
Added, too many young Pennsylvanians attend public K-12 schools that lack adequate resources to ensure a quality education. In fact, Pennsylvania is home to the widest per-pupil spending gap in the nation between wealthy and poor school districts.
Furthermore, Pennsylvania ranks third overall in the statewide percent of children attending severely financially disadvantaged districts, behind only Illinois and New Hampshire. Our state’s over-reliance on local property taxes to fund public education has drastically limited poorer communities’ ability to adequately fund their schools.
Our economic and national security suffers when the workforce is strained, but we can reverse course. Increased public investment in high-quality early care and education programs as well as equitable and adequate K-12 funding for all Pennsylvania schools are “pipeline” investments in workforce (and military) readiness.
For Veterans’ Day 2019, let’s honor our veterans by committing to investments sure to instill in young people the qualities they will need both in the workforce and in service to this great nation if they so choose.
Rear Adm. Thomas J. Wilson III (U.S. Navy, Ret’d) is a member of the executive advisory council of Mission: Readiness – Military Leaders for Kids. He writes from Biglerville, Pa.
Read the op-ed here.
