| NEWS Military Mulls Massive Recruiting Plan to Enlist College Athletes -

TerryP

Staff
The U.S. military is actively discussing an initiative, proposed by a defense contractor, to fund athletic scholarships for tens of thousands of college athletes each year in exchange for their mandatory service.

Over the last seven months, the proposal, which would not include football and basketball players, has reached military and civilian leaders throughout the Department of Defense and key members of Congress. It has been pitched as a solution to inefficient recruiting within the armed forces—which spend billions on recruits who fail basic training—and financial unease in college sports, where athletic departments face increasing cuts to non-revenue teams like tennis and wrestling.

Needless to say, the proposal would require a massive rethink for both intercollegiate athletics and the Department of Defense, two American institutions often criticized for their lack of innovation. It would almost assuredly draw pushback from some key stakeholders, such as the NCAA and its members. That’s before the task of convincing high school athletes, an attractive demographic to military recruiters, that a college athletic scholarship is worth a commitment to years of military or alternative civilian service once they have completed their schooling.

The idea is the brainchild of Dave Maloney, CEO of Orchestra Macrosystems, a Houston-based software and analytics company that is an Air Force contractor. In a September memo that has since circulated around the Pentagon and Capitol Hill, Maloney, a former Auburn track athlete, framed his plan as a “21st century pathway to service.”

The Scholar-Athlete Intelligence and Leadership Program (SAIL-P), as it is christened in Orchestra’s brief, suggests that DoD offer to replace school-funded athletic scholarships for every sport other than football and basketball at the collegiate level—NCAA, NAIA and junior college. Those athletes would have no obligations while in school, but would be committed to a yet-to-be-determined amount of service after they’re done. Orchestra’s role would be to provide the market intelligence and data analysis to help power the program.

“The Department of Defense just went to Congress with its initial budget for next year. It’s the largest budget ever, and yet we’re seeing a decrease in our technological capabilities, and we’re seeing a decrease in any interest in service,” Maloney said in an interview. “What does that tell you? Talented people don’t want to work at decaying institutions. You’ve got to gut-punch it.”

 
The lack of interest in the military, is the “political correctness” clans. I personally know 8 quality officers that have had enough. They are either already out or getting out. The powers that be know this too, but can’t speak the truth any more. It’s a shame

Oh the irony of this... as if being PC will do anything for the warfighter in battle. This is where our military is losing it's edge.
 
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