One of the last bastions of age discrimination cracks opens the door

Until last week, you couldn't be a 39-year-old lesbian and be able to enlist the day before your 40th birthday in the Army Reserve or National Guard even if you kept your mouth closed about your sexuality.

Discriminatory? You bet.

In the Army National Guard, you can ... be a man and physically love other men and the Army would want you.

In the Army National Guard, you can ... be any color, any nationality, any creed and any political persuasion, and the Army would want you.

In the Army National Guard, you can ... be a woman and physically love other women and the Army would want you.

But if you were 35 years old or older, with no prior enlisted time, the Army would tell you to take a hike ... in your civilian clothes.

That, however, has changed. And you can thank war once again for the liberalization of America and forcing open the eyes of one of the last bastions of legal, Congressionally-approved age-based job discrimination -- the military.

Because of the shortage of men and women willing to join the Guard and Reserve, the Army has become lenient, liberal and understanding that older adults can provide service as well as the young pups. That is, they are hurting for recruits so bad they're accepting what they obviously believe are lower quality personnel. The change in policy makes 20 million men and women who weren't age eligible to enlist, age eligible.

The Army previously would accept persons in the Guard and Reserve with prior service -- regardless of service branch -- so long as they could retire at 60 with 20 years service. The military recruits only future retirees apparently. It's not just a job for just when your country needs you, it's a career for even when it doesn't and you have better things to do than shine shoes, dig ditches, march and mop floors.

But if you had no prior service, the maximum age for enlistment in the active duty Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard was less than 35 on the date of your enlistment.

The Army says the new policy applies only to the Reserve and Guard and does not apply to regular Army. However, it must be assumed that if your Reserve or Guard unit were activated -- and there's a good chance of that these days -- you would be on active duty and would be acting like a regular Army guy or gal. So the policy apparently is your standard military workaround to meet unfilled quotas because Congress has to approve any change in age limits for the regular Army and this is just a policy change.

Enlistees must still meet all other qualifications, including physical fitness, medical and mental. Anti-American terrorists need not apply, and may be rejected. The Army says the policy change is a test that will be in effect for three years, at the end of which it will be re-evaluated.

The policy is so new, in fact, that operators at the 1-800-G-o-G-u-a-r-d telephone call center have no information, and the 1800GoGuard.com web site still hasn't been updated.

The policy change is only for the Army. Upper age limits of 34 still apply for all the other services as well as the FBI and CIA. Who'd have ever thought the Army would be on the cutting edge? The Army, which apparently was the first military branch to accept minorities and women. And who said good things don't ever happen in wartime?

I don't consider opening the doors to recruits 40 years old minus a day and younger acceptable as a finish to ending age-based job discrimination in the military and federal services; it's a good start and a step in the right direction. I applaud the Army chiefs for the this decision, even though unfilled quota numbers may have dragged them into it kicking and screaming. It's the policy that counts, not the thought.

[Oh yeah, last but not least, before I get any abuse about my references to homosexuality in the lead paragraphs of this post, I want to make it clear that I am not a homophobe and would willing accept homosexuals serving openly in the military -- as soon as Congress passes a law forcing Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to shower with me. In case you're wondering, I'm not sexually attracted to her at all.]

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I've updated my post "A Rare Case of Balance," adding comments e-mailed to me today by Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher.

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Blog of the day:

Ken Adams' SmadaNek

SmadaNek is chosen as my Blog of the Day, not just because Ken has a great interest and a great handle on New Jersey politics, which he does, but because Ken is the first blogger to blogroll The 6th Estate. Thanks, and a tip of the press pass-festooned fedora to Ken for this tribute!