He was nicknamed Moron body“The battalion of fools”. Between 1966 and 1972, around 346,000 soldiers were grafted there as part of a relaxation of the American army selection policy, then engaged in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). It is the Minister of Defense Robert McNamara who gives the green light to the “100,000 project”, on August 23, 1966. On the sidelines of a veterans convention, he announced that we will now recruit soldiers who did not obtain the minima for the qualification tests of the army, up to 100,000 men per year.
For what? The reason is simple: there is a lack of troops to cope with the obstinate resistance of the North Vietnamese and the situation in Hanoi demands fresh blood. But to pass the pill, Robert McNamara rather speaks of patriotism and positive discrimination. “The poor in America did not have the opportunity to gain their fair share of the abundance of this nationdeclares the US Secretary for Defense, stationed from 1961 to 1968. But they may have the opportunity to serve in the defense of their country and return to civilian life with skills and skills which, for them and their families, will reverse the harmful spiral of human decadence. “
It would therefore be a policy of “rehabilitation” of the left-handed of America, not an unexpected pool of insignificant lives to mow! On paper, it is a success: from 23,300 soldiers at the beginning of 1965, the US contingent jumped at 465,600 at the end of 1967. The new policy, however, made the ranks of atypical profiles: school dropouts, marginal, slight debiles whose intellectual quotient borders on the score not English), individuals in the spectrum of autism or with minor handicaps (vision or hearing disorders, flat feet, overweight) are part of these “New Standards Men” Formerly failed.
Unknown to battalions
Alas, as soon as they arrived in training, the difficulties are felt. Slower than their counterparts, more unruly too, the new recruits are stigmatized: we openly make fun of the “stupid McNamara” (“McNamara’s Morons”) which would be twice as many times to switch to court martial. Recruited as part of the 100,000 project, a boy from Tennessee is for example unable to distinguish his right from his left or to lace his shoes. In addition, the newcomers undergo express training, in order to see the battlefield as soon as possible, without receiving the “civil” skills and skills promised by the United States Minister of Defense.
Consequence: 40% of New Standards Men are paid into the infantry, against only 25% of the usual recruits. Would more “limited” soldiers be considered by their own staff as cannon fodder? The detractors were quick to point the finger at this disparity, in particular insofar as 41% of the 100,000 project recruits are of African-American origin, against 12% on average in the rest of the American army. It did not take long to assimilate the initiative of Robert McNamara to a disguised attempt to rid the ghettos of racialized people, while sparing the youth of the white suburbs.
Of course, if the majority of these disabled and intellectual disabilities are sent to the front rather than in support functions more distant from the fighting, it is also because of the brevity of their training, incompatible with the acquisition of a complex know-how. “We can very quickly generate more rifles, but it is impossible to generate drivers very quickly”underlines Alfred B. Fitt, Deputy Secretary of Defense. The objective is to urgently mobilize troops to defeat enemy positions in Vietnam.
See Saigon and die
With what results? The gaps in their training, coupled with physical or psychological problems previously detected by ability tests, cause very real damage on the front line. According to some historians, the new recruits are two to three more likely to find death in combat. Even after the active service, researchers have shown that the survivors of the “foolish battalion” earned between 5,000 and 7,000 dollars less per year than their counterparts having escaped the army.
Increasingly criticized as the pacifist movement is gaining momentum in the United States, the 100,000 project was abandoned in December 1971. It is difficult to draw an objective assessment of the mobilization of “deficient” under the flags, it is clear that they fought for a lost cause. It will be revealed later that Robert McNamara knew that the United States could not win this war since 1966 … which did not prevent him from sacrificing in the meantime 5,500 New Standards Men who should have stayed in the country in other circumstances.
