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I dodged the draft and in partial atonement, I did some work with Operation Code, which is for vets and their spouses to learn to be techies. I did a podcast wi

I dodged the draft and in partial atonement, I did some work with Operation Code, which is for vets and their spouses to learn to be techies. I did a podcast with them: https://operationcode.org/podcast https://operationcode.org/podcast These people are not in any way, shape, or form "dumb." A lot of them go to 4-year colleges on the GI Bill, but a few did code school. One works for Google now. Almost none of them actually saw any combat. My favorite was Dick Sonderegger, who enlisted in the Marines during the Vietnam era. He said he wanted to fly close air support in 'Nam, and they said, "No, you're going to be a computer programmer." He never left the States. They do yell at you in Basic Training, all of them said.

renewiltord 3y ago
I didn't consider them dumb but I have to say that everyone insisting "they're not dumb" is changing my mind a little bit now.
- horns4lyfe 3y ago
  There are a lot of dumb people in the military. There are also some, usually in special forces, that can run mental laps around most of the people here, then physical laps, then shoot you in the chest from a half a mile away, then give an incredible speech about it all.
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    Good answer.
- psychphysic 3y ago
  There is a sense of "doth protest too much, methinks"
- appplication 3y ago
  Vet in tech here. Vets are generally socioeconomically disadvantaged compared to the average tech employee. They rarely come from great school districts, and the military is one way to give them a leg up on the system that held them down, via a decent paying job, and path to “free” college education and retirement. Rich kids and those from top school districts (generally) don’t end up in the military. In the end, it’s all about education and opportunity. Most folks who enter the military see it as a way to get more of both.
User23 3y ago
The US military is one of the few American employers that can legally use an IQ test as part of their hiring process.
- tomohawk 3y ago
  They have to. It is illegal to hire people in the bottom 10% of IQ to be in the military.
- Spooky23 3y ago
  You can use it to by hiring veterans.
- smabie 3y ago
  Doesn't really make a difference either way. Companies just use some other aptitude test instead
- psychphysic 3y ago
  Surely most employers use IQ which varying degrees of effectiveness? I expect in most settings IQ 100-140 is very hard to guess from an interaction. Harder if there is a specific field being assessed where someone has experience/training. But everyone will pick up IQ <90 almost immediately and that's not even necessarily abnormally low just borderline.
  - Shaanie 3y ago
    By proxy, yes, but not directly and there's a big difference.
    - psychphysic 3y ago
      I'm not sure there is. IQ is just an aptitude score, it's far more objective and unbiased than an interview.
      - tarboreus 3y ago

renewiltord 3y ago

I didn't consider them dumb but I have to say that everyone insisting "they're not dumb" is changing my mind a little bit now.

horns4lyfe 3y ago
There are a lot of dumb people in the military. There are also some, usually in special forces, that can run mental laps around most of the people here, then physical laps, then shoot you in the chest from a half a mile away, then give an incredible speech about it all.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  Good answer.
psychphysic 3y ago
There is a sense of "doth protest too much, methinks"
appplication 3y ago
Vet in tech here. Vets are generally socioeconomically disadvantaged compared to the average tech employee. They rarely come from great school districts, and the military is one way to give them a leg up on the system that held them down, via a decent paying job, and path to “free” college education and retirement. Rich kids and those from top school districts (generally) don’t end up in the military. In the end, it’s all about education and opportunity. Most folks who enter the military see it as a way to get more of both.

User23 3y ago

The US military is one of the few American employers that can legally use an IQ test as part of their hiring process.

tomohawk 3y ago
They have to. It is illegal to hire people in the bottom 10% of IQ to be in the military.
Spooky23 3y ago
You can use it to by hiring veterans.
smabie 3y ago
Doesn't really make a difference either way. Companies just use some other aptitude test instead
psychphysic 3y ago
Surely most employers use IQ which varying degrees of effectiveness? I expect in most settings IQ 100-140 is very hard to guess from an interaction. Harder if there is a specific field being assessed where someone has experience/training. But everyone will pick up IQ <90 almost immediately and that's not even necessarily abnormally low just borderline.
- Shaanie 3y ago
  By proxy, yes, but not directly and there's a big difference.
  - psychphysic 3y ago
    I'm not sure there is. IQ is just an aptitude score, it's far more objective and unbiased than an interview.
    - tarboreus 3y ago