Lower enlistment age in the US
- Thread starter Copperhead
- Start date
And "Existence at stake" is kind of hard to find for the US post 1900. It would need to be something where there was a real threat of invasion. And that would probably take every single other country in existence banding together and even then be iffy. And that would require ignoring the US Nuclear stockpile.
I could see the US drafting pre 18 year olds for labor in some semi apocalyptic scenarios where civilization has been deeply wounded but the country is still nominally together. Something like a Cuban missile crisis go's hot where the US has completely obliterated the Warsaw Pact but taken a couple in return. I could see the resulting economic collapse and need for labor resulting in a drafting of teenagers for labor duties.
marathag
Banned
Plenty of Draftees were sent to SEAsia, thoufh if tou were to enlist for longer term than the 2 years, chances went up you got sent to W.Germany or S. Korea.
The Army needed as many 11Bulletstoppers as they could get, including lowering the standards.
Readup on McNamara's 'Project 100,000' or 'McNamara's Moron Corps' as others in the Armed Forces referred to them
Fair enough. Though in that sort of "Semi post Apoclaypse" I could see it being organized through the military for convienence sake and that the military organizational structure would probably be more intact then the civilian one in a "Cuban Missile War" TL.
SsgtC
Banned
There's different levels to Civil Service. For example, both NOAA and the Public Health Service have uniformed, commissioned officers that are still technically civilians. The Coast Guard has the Coast Guard Auxillary which is likewise uniformed, but retains Civilian status. The Air Force has Civil Air Patrol and the Air Force Auxiliary which are uniformed and civilian. Though all of the above are issued federal ID giving them the status of a field grade officer should they be captured while serving in a War Zone. We would probably see similar programs enacted for civilians on the home front of it's needed that badly.
The OP mentioned the enlistment age in the UK is 16, but what wasn't mentioned is 16 year olds have more rights in general in the UK than in the US.
- Leaving school (some states in the US as well but not all)
- Drinking beer, wine, or hard cider in a restaurant as long as purchased by someone over 18
- Leaving parental home
- Medical decisions
- Scotland only: voting
- Scotland only: getting married w/o parental consent
- Scotland only: considered an adult in civil court
SsgtC
Banned
On a per capita basis, certainly. You're 100% right. But it appears more common in the United States because of the sheer number that were reported doing it.
marathag
Banned
Like the 'Stupid Floridian Criminal' Meme:
not that they don't have them: they do- but their open records law makes it easy to sift thru to find and report on them across the Globe for cheap laughs
SsgtC
Banned
I agree, it's public perception. And in something like lowering the enlistment age, public perception is all that matters
I will note that lower enlistment age can work sometimes when the character of a unit makes the practice ubiquitous, or it deals with a population where such a practice is not norm breaking.
This is a somewhat personal anecdote, but my fiancee was in the IDF earlier this decade, and she was an intelligence officer as part of the Givati Brigade (part of Southern Command). The brigade has the internal nickname "Красная Армия " for a reason, in that around 1 in 3 of its frontline personnel for Operation Pillar of Defense were estimated to be the children of Russian or Ukrainian olim, and the birth certificates of this population are somewhat nebulous, with kids being listed as older than they really are for some reason upon aliyah (most think it is so they can contribute by doing teen jobs and help the family earn money while ducking child labour laws) with the impact being some entering the IDF before age 18. This is relatively common for some bizarre reason that still hasn't been fixed, and it has become a sort of running joke in the IDF that the Russians haven't learned to shave yet by the time they enter.
This is a somewhat personal anecdote, but my fiancee was in the IDF earlier this decade, and she was an intelligence officer as part of the Givati Brigade (part of Southern Command). The brigade has the internal nickname "Красная Армия " for a reason, in that around 1 in 3 of its frontline personnel for Operation Pillar of Defense were estimated to be the children of Russian or Ukrainian olim, and the birth certificates of this population are somewhat nebulous, with kids being listed as older than they really are for some reason upon aliyah (most think it is so they can contribute by doing teen jobs and help the family earn money while ducking child labour laws) with the impact being some entering the IDF before age 18. This is relatively common for some bizarre reason that still hasn't been fixed, and it has become a sort of running joke in the IDF that the Russians haven't learned to shave yet by the time they enter.
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BlackDragon98
Banned
Why recruit a bunch of kids when you can hire well-trained, experienced PMCs?
A good example is Nigeria.
After years of fighting Boko Haram (often using child soldiers) with no wins, the Nigerian gov. decided to do something smart.
It hired apartheid era South African PMCs, and they started to turn the tide against Boko Haram to the point that they were more a nuisance than a genuine threat.
A good example is Nigeria.
After years of fighting Boko Haram (often using child soldiers) with no wins, the Nigerian gov. decided to do something smart.
It hired apartheid era South African PMCs, and they started to turn the tide against Boko Haram to the point that they were more a nuisance than a genuine threat.
Yeah most theoretical scenarios where the US is in desperate need of more troops would be partially met with PMCs. From the perspective of the Pentagon there great partially because the media and politicians don't care if they get killed.
My grandfather enlisted into the Coast Guard at age 16 during WWII with the help of his mother I think I recall reading of a few as young as 14 serving the US during WWII. The Royal navy lost a ship with lots of teens on it right?
A lot of teenagers lied about their age to enlist. I believe the youngest verified is a 13 year old who illegally enlisted and ended up in Normandy before the Army realized it's mistake and evacced him.
That's right and that forced them to change how they did things before then there was many 15-18 year olds on there ships after almost none