Recruits with behavioral challenges allowed in US military

The U.S. military isn’t getting enough new recruits. The Army is 15,000 recruits shy of its goal for this year, and just lowered its goal for next year by another 15,000. Only about 23% of young Americans meet the requirements to join the military in the first place. Less than 10% are actually interested in signing up for service.

There are a number of conditions or ailments which prevent some people from joining the military. In most cases, the potential recruit would need a waiver to sign up for military service, but those can be hard to get.

In June of this year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a change in the Department of Defense’s Medical Standards for Military Service. For the last six months, the military allowed entry to recruits with certain behavioral disorders. 700 people diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were allowed entry to the U.S. military this year.

The Department of Defense said recruits suffering from 38 different medical conditions could serve in the military, provided they haven’t demonstrated symptoms or required medication for treatment for three, five or seven years depending on the condition.

According to the Pentagon, the program changes will be assessed in six months. At that time, officials said they’ll have a year’s worth of data to review, making it easier to track the changes to determine what sort of impact they’re having both in recruitment and mission readiness.

Changes to recruiting systems are often paired with concerns about lowering standards and endangering our armed forces in the long run. When the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at their height, the military granted a high number of waivers for a variety of reasons. For years afterward, the military battled a growing number of suicides and mental-health issues.

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the shifting in requirements for waivers may come with a risk, but supporters said without the changes the military will continue to struggle to meet its recruitment needs. Also, once in the armed forces, many service members are allowed to take the very medications they are banned from taking before they join.