Military runs on technology

You may know I moved to Florida recently.  The area I live in just released the results of the state wide required tenth grade reading proficiency test.  Half of the tenth graders FAILED the test!   The same results were reported for the math test.  Now my first view is, we spent too much time teaching social issues and sex education, and not enough time teaching the basics of education.  Reading and math are required for any career.  But I see more young people who are dumb as stumps and have NO life skills.  I was in a fast food restauant and the cash register was broke.  The person, about 18, could NOT make change!  He tried to do the simple math on a calculator, but that was too technical for him.  I told him what the change was, and as he got his calculator to give him an answer, he looked at me in shock and said; "You're right!"  Now making change is not rocket science and I learned in the first grade.  What are we teaching our kids?

They cannot read and they cannot talk.  An intelligent conversation with most high school students is impossible.  Heck, most college students are illiterate.  Yet we keep passing students without standard and we keep giving college degrees to students who are ignorant.  So, if technology is the future of the military, who is going to man these super tech ships?  We have already dumbed down the Navy's training pipeline to the point that only basic maintenance is being done onboard ship and heaven help us if a system breaks down.  Trust me, tech reps fix 99% of the problems onboard ship and many of those fixes are improper switch alignment and blown fuses!  Today's sailor is unable to be self-sufficient.

I took a Masters Degree Management course and I had a class project with three other students.  Two of the students had their BS from Norfolk State University.  They could not write at a third grade level, did not understand what they read, and could not speak english.  The other person and I did the entire project and they got the same grade we got!  That is why our education system is broke.  The system will not tell a student they failed! It might hurt their feelings.  If you can't fix your system on a ship and the enemy blows your ship up, that will hurt your feelings much worse!  The SEALS say "If you sweat in training you will not bleed in combat."  We need to change our education system to that motto!

So, how do we fix this problem?  I honestly don't think it can be.  Why, the liberals want us dumb!  We are easier to manipulate that way. But the positive side of this is, if you are in the "Passing" group, you are going to be in BIG demand in the work force.