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Tennessee Top
01-24-15, 11:45 AM
Saw where the new commandant wants to institute some sort of psychological test for poolees similar to what the special forces and police departments do. This is a step to better ensure they have the capacity to complete bootcamp and their term of enlistment.

Sounds like a good idea to me. Any thoughts?

Zulu 36
01-24-15, 12:04 PM
Sounds like a plan worth trying out to me. However, it makes much more sense for a period like now where the Corps is downsizing and should be only taking the top recruits available.

How practical during a big shooting war like we just had is another matter. Although, I think it would be even more important during a war.

MunkyVsRobot
01-24-15, 01:12 PM
Might do them some good but in MHO they are treading a fine line. Sure you will cut down on people drinking bleach and trying to escape and all that jazz but are you trying to cultivate robots? Sure most special forces are free thinkers and dedicated and that jazz but if you are searching for one specific type of person it can become all bad.

Maybe Im just a tinfoil hatted suspicious individual but it has helped me get this far in life.

USMC 2571
01-24-15, 01:22 PM
Not that I completely disagree with two respected members here, Tennessee Top and Zulu 36, but Munky has a point, and he is, in my estimation, one of the best contributors to Ask A Marine, along with josephd.......they are slowly but surely restoring my faith in the younger generation. Emphasis on "slowly". LOL.

josephd
01-24-15, 02:43 PM
good idea?.....yes, yes, and yes!

Maybe it's a generational thing(actually, I know it is) but some of the kids that are joining now aren't all there(in the head). We just had a new join at my unit threaten to kill another Marine for no apparent reason and then when he was confronted about it by a SSgt and a CWO2 he threatened them also. Obviously this isn't a common occurrence and there have always been some loose cannons in the Corps throughout the years.

Munky has a good point also though and I can't disagree, although our perspective of junior Marines/our peers may be a bit skewed as we are both a bit older than average and also educated(beyond highschool).

Phantom Blooper
01-24-15, 03:58 PM
Good thing wasn't during my era........I would have flunked.........but I think it is a good idea..........but depending on the test and the administrator it can be cheated on or rigged........all individuals....peaceful and extremists are psychologically predisposed in the DNA..........and also are set up in the brain to kill if you **** them off enough......

Phantom Blooper
01-24-15, 05:27 PM
Next thing they will want some of my sperm to clone super Marines....

madsox
01-24-15, 05:31 PM
I agree with Top.

I think the general idea of this is good, weed out the borderline nut jobs and the kids who aren't really serious about what they're getting in to. With drawdowns and everything else, the Corps can afford to be picky about who enlists. If the new recruits start out with more of the right mindset (team players, dedicated, not thinking everything is about them, etc.), then the training can spend less time on breaking them down and building them back up again, and we'll have better Marines and a better Corps.

How you do that reliably and consistently, I don't know. I'm no psychologist. I've been called part of that before ;) - a little bit psycho - but I like the general idea. Agree with Bloop.

Even without that, though, I'm really impressed with the young Jarheads I meet these days. They're smarter, better trained, tougher, and just generally have their **** together more than boots back in my day.

yeah, I was a weekend warrior back in the slacker 80's, but I'm glad I can share the title "Marine" with today's crew. Makes me look good being part of the same big family!

Ya know, hang out with the cool kids and people will think you're cool? Same idea!

s/f and carry on!

madsox
01-24-15, 05:33 PM
Next thing they will want some of my sperm to clone super Marines....

Oh gawd, Bloop. I just ate dinner!

:sick:

Big Boz
01-24-15, 07:13 PM
I am on the fence about this. I know some recruits that were very solid kids in high school and becoming a Marine was all they ever wanted to do and during boot camp, just sat down and called it quits. I know others who were not sure about joining and boot camp changed them into dedicated Marines.

Will it help? In some cases yes. But I think that boot camp is the real test.

advanced
01-25-15, 09:17 AM
We had one of those "poster Child" Marines in my company during our final training just before we shipped out to the FMF Pacific. He was good at everything and seemed to be real gung ho.

Last time I saw him he was up on the roof of the barracks refusing to come down as the rest of us all shipped to the Nam. Seems they didn't check him to see if he had any balls.<script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/67a58466/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script>