NOT FOR MILITARY

In "Military an option to prison" (Letters, Oct. 23), Clark Tugwell
suggests that young people charged with drug, alcohol and other offenses be
offered an option of entering military service instead of jail.

The military services have a minimum age requirement of 18. If an
18-year-old (an adult) is facing jail time, it is most likely not for a
first-time youthful offense. Drug and alcohol problems generally begin at a
much earlier age. At any rate, the military does not want them, and if
their offenses are a matter of public record, will not accept them.

Today's military is a promising career option for young people, not a
dumping ground for troubled youth. The military has a zero-tolerance policy
coupled with random testing that eventually identifies these people and
sends them packing, hopefully before their inappropriate behavior has
endangered the lives of others.

While jail may not be the best place for some of these youth, the military,
where responsibility and leadership are the name of the game, is one of the
worst places to send them. The answer continues to lie in early detection
of problem behavior, and rehabilitation prior to adulthood. Once the
problem child becomes an adult, they must accept responsibility for their
own actions.

- - Norman Hughes,

Pensacola