Why did they tell my brother he was too 'smart to be in infantry?'?

Question

It is my brothers dream to be a Infantryman in the US ARMY. He is a very smart kid, 99th percentile on the ASVAB 4.0 GPA


He's been in touch with his recruiter and service liason. They both suggest to him that he become an intellignece anaylst or Linguist????


My brother wants to bust down doors and ground pound. why is his career couselor trying to talk him out of that?

Why don't they want to let him be an 11b?


Why do they willingly let idiots in the infantry but discourage smart kids?

Answer 1

It's harder to find smart people to fill those types of jobs. It's not fair though, I'm sure intelligent people would excel at infantry type jobs. Wouldn't that be the best for our country's defense, to have intelligent infantry that were really commited and wanted to do that kind of job? Wish there were more like him out there.

Answer 2

What he should do is go in to Special Operations, with his level of Intel and wanting to be a grunt type, that's where he would be best at, there is also warrant officer candidate school and ocs, all can be in special operations units, and he wont be just ground pounding, he would be utilizing all the smarts he possesses, either way, too smart for the infantry is an inter service rivalry thing that goes back a long way, you have to have served to understand what and why, you see, i am in an infantry unit, and i am a communications chief/instructor qualified and taught at the US Army Signal School, now in this unit where everyone else is Infantry, its like being discrI'minated against for not being infantry, and im considered a nobody, and treated likewise, so when ever i get the chance to let them know about radio wave propagation and frequency management and antenna theory, i do and not before long, their brains are stumped, my old boss used to say, hey , its not my fault you didn't score high enough on the asvab, its funny to me, but then you must have lived it to understand,

Answer 3

Note: Too smart, not dumb. The infantry requires substantial brain power but other areas may require more. The recruiters realize that he'll be unhappy and could become a problem or just quit out of frustration after the first term is up. Their job is to get potential recruits into the areas that are best for the service.

Your brother could do both (pound ground/kick in doors plus be happy in the long term) if he has patience. The recruiters rarely send someone to the ROTC recruiter but he may like being an infantry officer more. That would require four years of college, though.

Answer 4

They aren’t discouraging him from becoming an Infantry Soldier; they think that he might be better suited to serve the Army in a different capacity. Some of the smartest people I know, with the highest ASVAB and GT Scores have been in the Infantry. But since it is much harder to get people to join up who have the test scores your Brother has, the Intelligence of Logistics jobs need more qualified people. Ultimately, no recruiter in there right mind would not let him join and pick any job he is qualified for, if your Brother really wants to be an 11B, they will let him.

CPL / US ARMY

Answer 5

They cannot stop him from enlisting into the infantry. The reason for them telling him that he is "too smart" is to help him open his eyes and realize that there are jobs that he is better equipped to do. Not very many people get the opportunity to go into linguistics or Military Intelligence. Your brother obviously meets the prerequisites.

Try a compromise... here is an idea. Why doen't he go into Military Police 31B. If he gets put into a Guard and Escort unit or Combat support unit, he will get his fair share of busting down doors. Later in his carrer he can transfer to Army CID and go to warrant officer school. That is a difficult job to get into, but it pays so much better and if he is looking to have a family, he will be making good money and be a lot safer.

And by the way, the infantry is not idiots. We all put on the same uniform. Why aren't you enlisting?

Answer 6

Your bro is a rare commodity for the US Army. They will encourage him to be used where he can do the most good. Intelligence and logistics, once he gets the hang of it, is where the army brass believe that he can serve best serve the war effort.

They are not trying to discourage your brother, but rather convince him that grunts are much easier to come by than people with his IQ. Suggest to your brother that he defer to a higher authority !

Answer 7

Because there are jobs within the US Armed Forces that require a very high ASVAB score and they need those positions filled. When a person comes along who meets the criteria for those positions they attempt to get the person to agree to that position.

If your brother wants infantry he can get it either way.

Rinkrat you stated
"Personally, I'd question the intelligence of anyone who actually wanted to be in the infantry. Pretty stupid if you ask me. Does he have a death wish?"

Thats funny, as a person who used to be in the USMC Infantry I often find myself questioning the balls of anyone who doesnt want to be in the Infantry. ...funny how that works isnt it? I had a B.S. in Political Science prior to becoming an Infantryman, now that I am out I am getting my M.B.A., my IQ as of 3 years ago was 132.

But I guess I am not "intelligent," or maybe I have a "death wish" or maybe just maybe I didnt care about benefits, or getting a job skill, or hiding out in the rear, maybe I wanted to fight for my country against those who wish to hurt it.

Answer 8

infantrymen arent idiots, but smart kids think too hard when its time to break down doors, he wants to serve first and foremost no offense but the first thing your bro needs to understand is "needs of the army" his only choice is signing the paper and from there he is in the mans hands

-tell him infantrymen are the best group of men period, been on alot of teams and nothin comes close that of a squad/platoon

-did a year in iraq tell him if he wants to keep his innocence go MI not 11B

Answer 9

1. Because infantrymen die more frequently than other types of servicemen.

2. Because a smart individual can fulfill other roles that a dumb guy cannot, but a dumb guy can do just fine in the infantry. If you have 2 guys and want to fill two positions, you put the smart person in the smart job. Why waste a rare smart person on a job that a dumb guy could do?

3. Because an intelligent, analytical mind is more likely to question orders and not follow his orders instantly, blindly and without question, which is essential to the infantry. You can't have a bunch of guys standing around arguing with their commander. That doesn't mean that no smart person will follow orders, but they're more likely to question things, right or wrong--they're more likely to want to work things out for themselves.

Personally, I'd question the intelligence of anyone who actually wanted to be in the infantry. Pretty stupid if you ask me. Does he have a death wish?

Answer 10

I can tell you are a prog the way you called the soldiers idiots, and it makes me doubt your story. That said...

that is not belittling the others. 99Percentile means he did better than 99% of the people who took the test. That makes your brother rare and probably better suited for a job with different requirements. If your brother is looking for combat duty try the Marines