# What would happen if the government raised enlistment age from 18 to 21? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2022, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-government-raised-enlistment-age-from-18-to-21/965907 "2022-06-09T04:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-government-raised-enlistment-age-from-18-to-21/965907/61 "2022-06-26T14:09:37Z")
> [@Tom\_Terrific](#): > > ass. Thank you for your service. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-government-raised-enlistment-age-from-18-to-21/965907/62 "2022-06-26T19:54:20Z")
I don’t think the age needs to be changed for Voluntary enlistment. Just up it for Selective Service. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-government-raised-enlistment-age-from-18-to-21/965907/63 "2022-06-26T21:03:01Z")
To 65. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-government-raised-enlistment-age-from-18-to-21/965907/64 "2022-06-27T13:15:00Z")
**Warning for Tom\_Terrific** This is way past what is allowed in IMHO and you’ve had other issues with remembering you’re not in the Pit, so this time a warning is due. * * * I’m checking the thread to see if more needs to be said. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-government-raised-enlistment-age-from-18-to-21/965907/65 "2022-06-29T18:08:31Z")
The US military is [enough](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/every-branch-us-military-struggling-meet-2022-recruiting-goals-officia-rcna35078) trouble as is meeting it’s recruiting goals. And this seems to be part of a long term trend, not just fallout from Covid19 and the labor shortage. There many chaning socioeconomic and cultural factors at play. There isn’t a clear solution either. Conscription certainly wont help given the low percentages of age cohorts even eligible. It’s not practical to keep conscripts in long enough to make needed training worthwhile. Also DoD would need to redesign screening and training procedures to accommodate large volumes of unmotivated personnel who don’t even want to be there. And last but not least the matter of drafting women (who might even make a higher eligible percentage of their age cohort than men). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-the-government-raised-enlistment-age-from-18-to-21/965907.md?page=3)