Originally Posted by ZDub

I'm reasonably certain, you can check my post history, that I've never mentioned the puppy mills on this forum. I'm pretty well over it, and it was largely tongue in cheek. Having said that, what is past does not necessarily still apply. On the liberal side, I'd put the number of former millitary at maybe 50/50, and again I'm being generous. At the end of the day, however that's really neither here nor there in that former millitary does not automatically a good LEO/FAM make. I spent eight years in a high speed MOS in the Army and seven in Law Enforcement and I can tell you that on the LE side, I worked with many excellent Officers and Agents who had zero millitary time. As a corollary, I worked with more than one marginal former mil and watched several wash out at various stages over the course of the 18 weeks I spent at the Academy. They simply couldn't effectivley assimilate to a civillian LE role coming from the environment they had.

At the end of the day, it's an individual proposition. Just as not anyone can earn ATP, not anyone can wear a badge, no matter how motivated and capable they may be. You simply either are, or you are not. Your idea is not absurd, and it may merrit exploration. The 800 pound gorilla however may be the fact that these are Federal jobs and they can't be filled by one group of people to the exclusion of the rest of an applicant pool, no matter how well qualified and/or intended.

Cheers, and happy New Year....