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Thanks to the heinous Blackwater pardons I've been reading about the My Lai Massacre (where ~100 US soldiers murdered ~500 Vietnamese civilians in 1968). The two court-martialed commanding officers were Ernest Medina (d. 1936-2018) and William Calley (still alive)
Both Medina & Calley were commissioned officers, with high school educations. The most important job Calley held before enlisting was "bellhop or dishwasher", for Medina it was "odd jobs". Both men would've been lifelong menial laborers in their hometowns had there not been a war
Calley had an IQ around ~70, borderline mentally retarded. In 60s the Army needed troops, and they didn't want to piss off "middle class voters" by drafting their sons, so McNamara came up with Project 100,000 -- literally a plan to draft "Low-IQ" soldiers, like Calley
Calley (still alive, and the only court-martial conviction) may have legitimately been a moron--his troops said he couldn't read a map or a compass. (He had flunked out of his first courses in a florida junior college.)
clearly IQ doesn't equal morality, but the massacre stemmed from conflicting orders, and a more educated quick-thinking individual might handle those variables more cogently, or questioned if it was a legal order at all--which is why the Army didn't let <90 IQs in to begin with!
But the truly insane thing, maybe the most incredible statistic I've ever read: these Low-IQ soldiers died at **three times** the rate of others. THREE. TIMES. 200%. I would've been surprised if it was 50%+. These guys had no business being in combat. Just, wow.
They had worse PTSD too (though I've read conflicting research on IQ and PTSD) and worse outcomes after the war even compared to non-vets. McNamara's PR stunt was that this would help disadvantaged people get their life together--but they had lower salaries and life expectancy
In 1971 almost immediately after My Lai, they raised the IQ cutoff back to >90 and added the 4-year degree for officers.
ANYWAY, long story short everyone knows we send our poorest and most vulnerable to war, but I had always thought it was de facto, not literal policy. jfc.
ANYWAY, long story short everyone knows we send our poorest and most vulnerable to war, but I had always thought it was de facto, not literal policy. jfc.
and yeah I guess the subtext during the Trump Era is don't put low performing low education individuals in charge of high-pressure, important jobs with life or death considerations.
