American Volkssturm

As World War II went badly for Germany, they became increasingly desperate for enough soldiers to man the fronts. In late 1944 they conscripted every male between the ages of 16 and 60 into the Volkssturm.

The Defense Department quietly asked Congress on Monday to raise the maximum age for military recruits to 42 for all branches of the service.

Under current law, the maximum age to enlist in the active components is 35, while people up to age 39 may enlist in the reserves. By practice, the accepted age for recruits is 27 for the Air Force, 28 for the Marine Corps and 34 for the Navy and Army, although the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve sometimes take people up to age 39 in some specialties.

The Pentagon’s request to raise the maximum recruit age to 42 is part of what defense officials are calling a package of “urgent wartime support initiatives” sent to Congress Monday night prior to a Tuesday hearing of the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee.

Can anyone point me to a situation in which the winning side of a conflict had difficulty mustering bodies?


(Note to any wingnuts wandering off the reservation: this is NOT a Nazi comparison. It has nothing to do with Nazi atrocities, comparing American malfeasance to Nazi atrocities, or comparing your Yellow Elephantitis to the actions of any German past or present. And, um, how old are you?)