Cohen Sees Recruit Quality ‘Slippage’

Defense Secretary William S. Cohen acknowledged “slight slippage” in the quality of military recruits and cited recent sexual-harassment cases as a contributor. Cohen pointed to statistics indicating a decline in the number of high school graduates and an increase in poor performers among inductees. The most recent year-to-year figures on the portion of recruits with high school diplomas has slipped from 95% to 92%, Cohen said, and the number of “Category 4” recruits, those with the lowest intelligence and achievement levels acceptable to the military, has risen from 1.2% to 1.7%.