After the U.S. Army raised its upper age bound for enlistment to near 42, a story like this was bound to crop up. Army Private Margie Black, 41, has enlisted along with her daughter, Ashley, 21. Margie really is a grandmother. A ?Maury Povich? appearance is no doubt forthcoming.
Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute defends the army?s change in age requirements, by the way. ?For front-line combat troops, it?s a bad idea,? Thompson says. ?But nobody is proposing putting 42-year-olds next to 18-year-olds on combat patrols. If it is correctly run, it could be a real boon. You don’t chase away people … just because they?ve reached some arbitrary age.?
