msnbc.msn.com— Dr. John Burson, a 74-year-old retired ear, nose and throat specialist, looks forward to his 90-day rotation in Afghanistan with a unit of the 101st Airborne Division.
Feb 14, 2009View in Crawl 4
You cannot enlist as Non-Prior Service after the cutoff age, which I think is 41. The rules are a lot different if you are already in, and are reenlisting into your current unit. My unit has soldiers well into their 60's, and one of them just reenlisted for another 4 years. If you can still pass set physical fitness and health standards, you can stay in if your unit has room.Besides, this LTC was called up by his superiors as a volunteer. It's not like he went into a recruiting station and said "I'm 74 and I'd like to join the Army please."
I have had the pleasure of meeting one or two characters like this in my lifetime, and the stories over beers are always great to hear. Some are funny, some are scary and some are just too gruesome to recount.What is great is that you get to see things from someone else's perspective and often gain insight into things you normally only see the surface of.
tvh2kFeb 15, 2009
True if your'e a line officer, but they give waivers out like candy if they really need you
ymegFeb 15, 2009
A doc is a doc.
rsterkenburgFeb 16, 2009
RTFA
active1x0Feb 16, 2009
You cannot enlist as Non-Prior Service after the cutoff age, which I think is 41. The rules are a lot different if you are already in, and are reenlisting into your current unit. My unit has soldiers well into their 60's, and one of them just reenlisted for another 4 years. If you can still pass set physical fitness and health standards, you can stay in if your unit has room.Besides, this LTC was called up by his superiors as a volunteer. It's not like he went into a recruiting station and said "I'm 74 and I'd like to join the Army please."
jackpotcityFeb 17, 2009
I have had the pleasure of meeting one or two characters like this in my lifetime, and the stories over beers are always great to hear. Some are funny, some are scary and some are just too gruesome to recount.What is great is that you get to see things from someone else's perspective and often gain insight into things you normally only see the surface of.