The Military and Open Books

This post from Andrew Sullivan about the problems the military have been having recruiting young people because people just can't meet minimum standards:

The latest Army statistics show a stunning 75 percent of military-age youth are ineligible to join the military because they are overweight, can't pass entrance exams, have dropped out of high school or had run-ins with the law.

This is incredible: 75%!
To the entrance exam point, when i was in Jr. ROTC (Air Force) in High School, I was amazed at not only how easy the open book exams were (one of the reasons I don't remember a damned thing from those classes) but also how many people would fail them. Literally the questions were right out of the book. The question would be "The front surface of an airfoil is called the _______", and you could open your book and read "The front surface of an airfoil is called the Leading Edge." People would fail these tests!
So while i'm dissapointed, I can't say i'm not suprised. A little common sense can take you a long way in this world.