Those picky military services

In an entry at the HR3753 blog, the comment is made that although the Navy won't accept a homeschooled candidate as Tier I, the Army will, and that this is unfair because the candidate wants to join the Navy, not the Army. The implication is that because of the unfairness, federal legislation is needed to correct the disparity.

My dad could have used help like that in 1935. That was the year he graduated from high school and tried to enlist in the Navy, but got turned down. And why? Because during his physical, the doctor put a tongue depressor in his mouth and told him to bite down on it. The tongue depressor's 'outside end' didn't remain level, but went up because my dad had a slight underbite. The Navy doctor shook his head, and said it was too bad, and rated my dad as unsuitable for enlisting in the Navy. Dad then went next door to the Army recruiter, was accepted without the tongue depressor test, and was off to the first assignment of a 30-year Army/Air Force career.

Dad said that if he'd only known what they were looking for, he'd have made sure to bite evenly on the tongue depressor. (I'm glad he didn't know that because then he'd have been in a ship floating on an ocean and never met my then-Army-Mom at Scott Field-in-the-middle-of-the-continent, and where would that have left little twinkle-in-the-eye me?)

(me and dad in 1968 -- see the underbite?)

It's unfortunate that the young candidate in the anecdote at the HR 3753 blog didn't know beforehand what the Navy would be looking for. I suppose if he gets those 15 credit hours of college to qualify for Tier I status, the Navy recruiters will be glad to talk to him, but that's cold comfort unless the young man sees the additional preparation as a benefit to himself, helpful preparation for his first military hitch, and possibly the beginning of a career.

Preparation is the key to making sure your tongue depressor doesn't 'pop up.'

What we can do for homeschooling families who are looking at the military for their kids, is not to put homeschool-qualifiers in federal law, but rather educate them. The information as to what the services are looking for in terms of Tier I recruits applies to everyone, and can be distributed without wrinkling the fabric of federal law. In this way the families and potential-servicemembers can be prepared to present to bureaucratic-thinkers a bureaucrat-friendly record that will be easily understood and accepted. This is in line with the aphorism that, "you can have anything you want, but you can't have everything you want."

Comments

[Jeanne]

I just can't figure this whole thing out. I have an unschooled acquaintance that I helped with some writing during his time homeschooling, and he helped my kids with computer stuff. The Navy, supposedly picky about homeschoolers, was extremely anxious to get him. His computer skills were in very high demand and he's now stationed in Hawaii and serving with a sub. His mom said she made a list of stuff he'd done during his high school years and that was that -- he was sooooo in. Maybe I should see if his mom would like to help HSLDA members get in the Navy, since they seem to need federal legislation to do it.

Hey, maybe THAT'S the point. My friend the homeschool mom successfully dealt with the military recruiters and provided them with the documentation they needed to see her son as a member of the service. Instead of using hierarchy and legislation, she helped her son meet his service goal as a "plain ol' mom."
Or maybe it was just that he had the skills they needed and could demonstrate them reliably.

This sort of thing really makes some people nervous, apparently.

And, by the way, like my three sons, our friend would not have been eligible to serve under the description of a homeschool program that HSLDA proposes in the legislation.

It's quite a mystery to me why imposing these limitations on homeschoolers could be seen as a positive step for homeschoolers.