THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

10

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the united states congress to raise the minimum age for military combat service to twenty-one years of age.

 

 

     WHEREAS, young adults are eligible to enlist in the United States Armed Forces at eighteen years of age, or seventeen years of age with parental permission; and

 

     WHEREAS, neuroscience shows that adolescents' brains continue to develop until approximately twenty-five years of age, with the prefrontal cortex developing last; and

 

     WHEREAS, the prefrontal cortex is responsible for impulse control, problem solving, and the ability to understand long‑term consequences; and

    

     WHEREAS, until the prefrontal cortex is fully developed, adolescent brains operate primarily from the amygdala, which is associated with emotion, aggression, and impulsive behavior; and

 

     WHEREAS, based on these developmental milestones, adolescent military recruits may not be neurologically equipped or sufficiently experienced to make life-or-death decisions in combat situations; and

 

     WHEREAS, new recruits may need additional training to allow them to become quick-thinking leaders in volatile and unpredictable situations; and

 

     WHEREAS, raising the minimum age for combat eligibility would provide the military services the opportunity to better train young recruits and to prepare them for battlefield realities, including the possibility of injury, capture, or death; and

 

     WHEREAS, providing additional training for young recruits would help the military services develop a ready pool of well‑prepared, fully capable, and combat-ready forces; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the United States Congress is urged to raise the minimum age for military combat service to twenty-one years of age; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

United States Armed Forces; Minimum Age; Military Combat Service