Millennials support ground troops against ISIS as long as it doesn't include them

NPR - A majority of young Americans support sending U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS, according to a wide-ranging new poll from the Harvard Institute of Politics.

The institute has asked millennials about the idea of American boots on the ground at three different times this year, and the survey results have fluctuated somewhat, but there seems to be a "hardening of support."

In this most recent survey, 60 percent of the 18- to 29-year-olds polled say they support committing U.S. combat troops to fight ISIS. But an almost equal number (62 percent) say they wouldn't want to personally join the fight, even if the U.S. needed additional troops.

Time - "The quality of people willing to serve has been declining rapidly," the U.S. Army Recruiting Command's commanding general says

Approximately 71% of the 34 million 17-to-24-year-olds in the U.S. would not qualify for military service because of reasons related to health, physical appearance and educational background, according to the Pentagon.

The ineligible typically includes those who are obese, those who lack a high school diploma or a GED, convicted felons, those taking prescription drugs for ADHD and those with certain tattoos and ear gauges, the Wall Street Journal reports, though some requirements can be waived.

Only 1% of young people are both “eligible and inclined to have conversation with” the military about possible service, according to the Defense Department.

“The quality of people willing to serve has been declining rapidly,” Major General Allen Batschelet, the U.S. Army Recruiting Command’s commanding general, told the WSJ.