A lot of discussion post-1/6 about white nationalism in the military, with onus being placed on recruiting standards (rightfully so)

But it's important to note, especially for those who haven't bridged the mil-civilian divide before, recruiters often have no standards

Quotas take precedence. When that's your (sad) baseline, you're going to attract many who aren't the best, brightest, morally sound

Add in the difficulty of attracting recruits amid 20-year, grossly unpopular wars, the "turn a blind eye" to meet #'s desperation is prevalent

I joined in 2004, when recruiting was easier than its been in years given the relevant nature of the country's conflicts (Iraq invasion in '03)

I have asthma, a disqualifying trait

Recruiter: "Do you have asthma?"

Me: "Yes"

Recruiter: "We'll just circle no"

All this is to say, at the recruiting level, these oftentimes aren't exactly upstanding personnel. These are LCpl Shmuckatellis who managed a promotion and wanted a non-deployable B-billet that wasn't drill instructor school or MSG duty

Until you philosophically fix the way the military approaches recruiting standards - when it's not a do-anything-to-hit-my-numbers game - these imbeciles will continue to slip through the (oftentimes willfully ignorant) cracks

And there are obviously plenty of good recruiters, just like any other MOS or B billet, but the number of horror stories almost any one-time recruit can tell about that process is enough to show there is a philosophical complication