According to several surveys administered by the Army over the last year, 73 percent of American youths are “morally, intellectually or physically unfit for service.”Gen. William S. Wallace, in an article in The Army Times, said that this is “an Army problem, but it’s also a national problem.”

While some aspects of these figures from the Army are problems for both the Army and the American nation as a whole, there are other aspects that offer evidence that many of these so-called problems might lie within the armed forces and not in the American population.

The survey discovered that “patriotism” has been declining since 2002, and it also reported that college has become the preferred activity for youths after leaving high school.

But, when the Army says patriotism what it really means is a desire to serve in the Army. Over the last four years, the armed forces have hardly been a desirable destination for the nation’s youth, and not simply because of, as the article in The Army Times suggests, a lack of patriotism or the seemingly “ordinary” nature of the Army.

According to the Pew Research Center, as of February, only 40 percent of Americans think that it was the right decision to use military force in Iraq, while only 42 percent think that the United States should keep forces in Iraq and only 30 percent think that the war in Iraq is going well.

And, while the Iraq war is increasingly unpopular in America, it has also been devastating to the international opinion of our country.

What the Army calls a decline in American patriotism may actually be an increase in political and international awareness and, if this is the case, it is not a problem but a sign of progress.

Also, one of the biggest problems for the armed forces, and one that has reentered the national headlines in recent weeks, is former President Clinton’s controversial “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Many of the Americans who are considered “morally” unfit are gay or those that display criminal behavior.

According to an editorial in The Chicago Tribune on March 14, 742 gay soldiers were removed from service last year, only a fraction of the gays in the military. According to the article there were reportedly 65,000 gays in the military in 2004.

The article also reports “Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he doesn’t support lifting the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy – which allows homosexuals to serve as long as they keep quiet about their sexual orientation – because to do so would condone ‘immoral’ behavior.”

While the Amy is kicking out gays for their “immoral behavior,” The New York Times reports that they have also been increasing their waivers for other “morality” infractions, including both misdemeanor and felony crimes.

The love of Americans for their country has not declined; this love has simply expanded to encompass compassion, peace, and understanding for our own citizens, while at the same time Americans have grown in their respect for the right of other nations to enjoy an existence free from the American military.

The military could become less than “ordinary” by working against this wholesome trend. While American youths are becoming more open-minded and political, choosing a college education over rifles and cruise missiles, the Army continues its assault on gays, continues to admit criminals into its ranks, and continues its war in Iraq. If this trend continues, one of the biggest morality problems in America might eventually be its military, not its youth, and that is a problem for everyone.