Marijuana conviction? No problem, sign here and raise your right hand

Editor's note: It's called scrapping the bottom of the barrel, or "expanding the pool." Why would any young American even consider volunteering for the US Army in these treacherous times? Is this what you want to be a part of? Dropping mines on Iranian soil that will at some point kill and destroy the lives of Iranian people? Volunteering for the U.S. Army means signing away your freedom to people you don't even know who can send you into extreme danger on their terms, not yours, so if you're not thinking clearly and long-term, you're gambling with your life, not building one no matter what the promises are or all the free shit you will get.
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Army raises enlistment age to 42, eases marijuana restrictions

New recruiting rules bump the age limit for recruits from 35 to 42. Easing restrictions on a single marijuana possession conviction "accounts for changes in society," one expert said.

By Patty Nieberg | March 24, 2026

A major update to Army recruiting regulations this week raises the maximum age a recruit can join to 42, and removes a barrier to joining for recruits with a single legal conviction for marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession.

The Army's previous limit was 35, though exceptions are occasionally made. The higher age limit brings the Army in line with other services’ limits of 41 in the Navy and 42 in the Air Force and Space Force, Kate Kuzminski, who studies military recruiting for the Center for a New American Security, told Task & Purpose.

Army recruiting officials have noted in recent years that the average age of recruits is increasing, with officials telling reporters in 2024 that the average recruit was 22 years, 4 months, and that it was still "going up."

Kuzminski said the change has positives and negatives. According to a report she authored for the RAND Corporation, many older recruits scored higher on enlistment qualification tests than recruits who joined before 20. Those older recruits were also more likely to reenlist and be promoted than their younger peers.

However, older recruits were also less likely to graduate from basic training and had higher attrition rates.

The older enlistment cap is the latest in the military's multi-billion-dollar overhaul of recruiting, launched after years of missed recruiting goals. The Army, the largest branch in the military, failed to meet annual recruiting goals in 2022 and 2023. Changes in recent years to the Army’s recruiting enterprise include installing a pre-boot camp prep course for recruits who do not initially meet fitness and academic standards and creating marketing schemes to move the Army’s messaging past the post-9/11 wars and appeal to Gen Z.

The changes also reflect an evolving Army workforce with more education and job skills. In 2024, then-Army Secretary Christine Wormuth announced that the service's goal was to have one-third of the entire force to hold college degrees. For officers, the service has expanded its direct commissioning program for professionals who have worked in the tech sector for a few years and have expertise in artificial intelligence and space, in order to help bolster the Army's technical knowledge across its formations.

Col. Angela Chipman, chief military personnel accessions & retention division said the enlistment age increase reflects the need for technical talent, even in the enlisted force.

"We're kind of looking at a more mature audience that might have experience in technical fields,” Chipman said. "We need warrant officers with extreme technical capabilities, and those will come from the enlisted ranks."

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Just in time. "Be all you can be in the US Army" in Iran:

🔴 The United States has informed Israel and several other allies that it “may have no choice” but to launch a military operation to seize Iran’s Khark Island, The Jerusalem Post reports.

The U.S. has accelerated the deployment of “thousands of Marines and Navy personnel” to the… pic.twitter.com/a8dD21wh8L

— News.Az (@news_az) March 23, 2026

Apparently, the US Army needs college grads who are "educated" enough to potentially go kill Iranians:

Report: US Preparing Major Escalation Against Iran That Could Include Ground Troops and Intensified Bombing

Comedy central. Looks like Vance wants to be another George Carlin:

Vance Tries To Justify Continued Iran War by Suggesting Iran Could Make a Nuclear Suicide Vest

Once that Christian fucked up epistemology bleeds into the narrative you start to seriously question the sanity of these people. And then these are the "leaders" who will take "educated" college grads who enlist in the US Army to war? Where have we gone wrong?

At Pentagon Service, Hegseth Prays for Violence Against Those Who 'Deserve No Mercy'

Imagine where else $6 billion could be spent that would be far more beneficial to Americans than this:

The U.S. military spent $6 billion in the past 3 years to recruit and retain troops

Listen to what this former US Marine talks about. Troops being dragged into Iran, how it will cripple the US and the real goal of Israel's violence. Start at the 1:00 point in the clip: