Tony Shaffer to Newsmax: Military Recruiting Hurt by Poor Education System

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Newsmax that recruiting efforts for the U.S. armed services are hampered by a lack of choices.

"Well, you don't have a good crop of young kids to pick from. There's two things that have impacted this. Obviously, the lowering of standards to the point of where you show up, you get a trophy. That's not good," Shaffer told "The Chris Salcedo Show."

Shaffer also blamed inadequate instruction in America's K-12 public schools. "What they teach, reading, writing, arithmetic, the three R's, would be a good place to start. Again, the standards there, Chris, are not adequate for the purposes of having kids come into a high-tech military," he said.

When it comes to physical fitness, Shaffer said America's young people are lacking."Kids don't go out. When you and I were kids, we went out and played. We were told, get out and go find something to do. And that resulted in us playing Army and going and doing things, going on our bikes, big wheels. That doesn't exist in the current culture."

On the topic of President Donald Trump's Middle East diplomacy and attempting to get Iran to a nuclear deal, Col. Shaffer said Trump's ongoing talks with Russia will play a key role. "Russia has offered to help with Iran because they've been exchanging technology. That's a big step forward for us working to counter the Iranian nuclear threat."

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