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No pushups? No problem. The Army builds a steppingstone to boot camp.

Bethanhi Scherer was an orphan in Vietnam when she was adopted as a teenager by her American mother and father, a FedEx executive.

She was surprised. Most families don’t go for the older children, she says. “And I’ll be honest with you – I was the most undisciplined kid coming here.”

Growing up in Georgia the past few years, Ms. Scherer was drawn to the military through her brother, who serves in Air Force special operations. 

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The U.S. armed forces face recruiting shortfalls. Many potential recruits want to serve but don’t qualify. The Department of Defense has a plan to lift them up and make them soldiers.

“I’ve always been more of a tomboy. I like cars, guns, bikes, all that kind of stuff,” she says. But when she tried to join the Army, her written test scores, as she continued to study English, weren’t high enough.

A recruiter told her about a new Department of Defense program to boost these marks through academic and fitness coaching. If she improved and qualified, she could begin Army basic training.

The rigor of the course hasn’t been easy, but she’s highly motivated, she says. “This country saved me. I want to be a part of it.” 

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