History Main / LoweredRecruitingStandards

** In one episode, Klink is in danger of going into combat on the Russian front, and the [=POW=]s[[note]]needing him to stick around less they get a competent commandant who discovers their operation[[/note]] try to help him get out of it by making sure he's in the worst possible physical health. Unfortunately, it ends up being in vain as the physician approves Klink anyway, saying that he fulfills the one main requirement: the fact that he's ''breathing''.
** In another episode, Hogan and his crew impersonate employees of a nearby armaments' factory to infiltrate and sabotage it. While working the factory floor, the guy Newkirk's been impersonating, a foreman checking for quality, gets called up to be drafted into the German army. While waiting his turn to see the medic, another man tells Newkirk he was too fat to be put inside a panzer, so he was placed in the airborne unit. Newkirk was deemed fit frontline service because he remembered his name, could tell that a chair's color was brown, and a shot from pistol startling him indicated his reflexes were good and had no major surgeries within a month. When he's paraded in front of some high ranking officers, Klink, who was visiting the factory, states "we're scraping the bottom of the barrel." The reason Newkirk wasn't discovered or sent off to battle was because he covered his face with a handkerchief when Klink was nearby, and because Hogan used one the sabotaged cannons as an example of what happens when the factory loses an experienced foreman.

** Traditionally the Roman Army had included non-citizens and foreigners for various auxiliary roles that were either distributed among Roman units so that [[GoingNative they would be slowly culturally assimilated]] or kept in their own tribal units as ''foederati''. In the fifth century, however, the Western Roman Army suffered heavy losses in various external and civil wars, forcing the Western Empire to rely on the ''foederati'' as their entire army. It was these troops that in 476 AD mutinied over a lack of promised pay and deposed the last Emperor of the West.

* ''''Series/HogansHeroes'':

** In another episode, Hogan and his crew impersonate employees of a nearby armaments' factory to infiltrate sabotage it, and while working the factory floor, the guy Newkirk's been impersonating, a foreman checking for quality, gets called up to be drafted into the army. While waiting hos turn another man says he was too fat to be put inside a panzer, so he was placed in the airborne unit. Newkirk was deemed fit frontline service because he remembered his name, could tell that chair's color was brown, and a shot from pistol startling him indicated his reflexes were good and had no major surgeries within a month. When he's paraded in front of some high ranking officers, Klink, who was visiting the factory, states "we're scraping the bottom of the barrel." The reason Newkirk wasn't discovered or sent off to battle was because he covered his face with a handkerchief when Klink was nearby, and because Hogan used one the sabotaged cannons as an example of what happens when the factory loses an experienced foreman.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', NASA decides to let an average person be an astronaut to better its image, which is how Homer ends up on the space shuttle.

As anyone in any Armed Forces can tell you, this is certainly TruthInTelevision, as seen with TradingBarsForStripes (when criminals are hired, often forcibly), ChildSoldiers (when recruits are taken younger) and OldSoldier (when they're taken older). Not to be confused with TooDesperateToBePicky, which is about a person being hungry enough that they're willing to eat ''anything''.

* In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', lack of numbers is the reason that a third class devil like Elsie gets trained and sent to Earth to capture loose spirits; a job previously reserved for the best of the best. To elaborate, there was massive numbers of runaway spirits that escaped the hell realm and invading human realm 10 years prior. To counter this, the hell realm government recruits as many spirit hunters as possible.

* In ''Film/Armageddon1998'', each of Harry's men fails their NASA evaluations. Finally, Truman asks if they can merely survive the trip to the asteroid, and a doctor replies that he's surprised they even survived the tests.

* ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', by virtue of the fact that there was hardly anybody left ''to'' recruit by the time of the story.
* Happens in ''Literature/UnderTheDome'' by Creator/StephenKing. After the town is cut-off from the outside world via SomeKindOfForceField, the town's leaders make the decision to deputize some young adults in order to beef up the police force. These young adults? The town selectman's [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong sociopathic son and his delinquent friends]].

* The Manticorian Navy in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' has been quietly lowering its standards with regards to re-enlistees in preparation for the war with Haven, resulting in troublemakers like Randy Steilman being kept in the service.

* Harry Dresden, title character of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' and black sheep of the wizarding community is recruited into the [[spoiler:[[StateSec Wardens]] and made regional commander for the central United States]] due to their shorthandedness during the vampire war. Unlike other examples, his abilities are not in question. He just has a checkered past and they don't like his personality.

* Mentioned in ''Literature/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront'': towards the end of the war, younger and younger recruits are being sent to the front with even less training than the protagonists' group received. They comment that they seem so much older now than those kids.

* The title character of ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' was a beneficiary (and/or victim) of this trope in the chronologically second-earliest book in the series. Not only does he get into flight school by lying about his age, albeit only by eight months, but a chapter or so later he's getting his pilot's wings and a hasty posting to 266 Squadron in France despite having less than half the required hours in the air. He survives through raw talent and sheer dumb luck for long enough to learn on the job; many other pilots don't.
* ''Literature/{{Andersonville}}'': Andersonville POWCamp is hastily constructed to hold Union prisoners at a time when the Confederacy is running out of men. Andersonville commandant Henry Wirz is not happy that his command consists of halfwits and rejects, the elderly and teenaged boys. For that matter Wirz himself got the command because he is unfit for combat after suffering his wound at Seven Pines.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'' - With the draft on, you get doctors who are against the very war that's being fought. It was a recurring theme that the vast majority of the US Army (being draftees), were unprepared, unfit, and generally had no business being in a warzone.
* ''Series/{{The 100}}'' - By Season 2, the Ark has lost so much of its population, and is facing such an overwhelming threat from the Grounders, that even Murphy, a known murderer, is allowed to help with their defense. Murphy is well aware that, if ''he's'' being trusted with a weapon, then they "really are screwed".
* ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'': In Season 3, the prison hires more guards to deal with the workload. However, it's clear from the start that they aren't qualified to work there. In the finale, it's revealed that one of them [[spoiler: is actually a hit man who works for the drug lord that Alex smuggled for. He even says that the place would hire Forrest Gump]].

* From professional wrestling, you have the [=nWo=] (New World Order) of the WCW. This was one of the things that soured the storyline, causing the eventual implosion of the WCW.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy's'' Peter Griffin is named president of a cigarette company for the same reason.
* A segment on ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' (released before the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell) is a Navy recruitment ad targeting gay men and promising "Now we're more don't ask than ever before!"

* In one episode of ''Series/HogansHeroes'', Klink is in danger of going into combat on the Russian front, and the [=POW=]s[[note]]needing him to stick around less they get a competent commandant who discovers their operation[[/note]] try to help him get out of it by making sure he's in the worst possible physical health. Unfortunately, it ends up being in vain as the physician approves Klink anyway, saying that he fulfills the one main requirement: the fact that he's ''breathing''.

This change in policy is also most frequently how our main character gets to join said group, when the best they could have hoped for previously was to fanboy from afar. This decision is also often a cause of [[InterserviceRivalry friction]] between the those who support the new arrangement and the Old Guard who [[DislikesTheNewGuy resent the "riffraff" coming into their midst]].

As anyone in any Armed Forces can tell you, this is certainly TruthInTelevision, as seen with TradingBarsForStripes (when criminals are hired, often forcibly), ChildSoldiers (when recruits are taken younger) and OldSoldier (when older applicants are considered). Not to be confused with TooDesperateToBePicky, which is about a person being hungry enough that they're willing to eat ''anything''.

* In ''Literature/TheHelmsmanSaga'', before the First Galactic War, only nobles were accepted into the Helmsman Academy. The protagonist is from the first batch of commoners to be allowed in due to the combat losses.

* The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse: TheEmpire began supplementing its clone army with recruits, a development which drew criticism from the clones. As this policy eventually gave us the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy, the clones probably had a point.

** Noted to be an impossibility for the SpaceMarines: their incredibly stringent genetic and physical standards are necessary to ensure recruits actually survive the surgeries that turn them into Astartes, and even then it’s not a certainty. They consider four possible candidates from a ''single planet'' to be an exceptionally good run. Several Chapters have remained on the verge of extinction for centuries or millennia because replenishing their numbers is just that hard, and every attempt to lower standards or otherwise mass-produce Astartes has ended in disaster.

** In the Sith Warrior storyline, your initial mentor comments that this policy was recently put into practice within the Sith Academy, due to the heavy losses of the war. In an inversion, your character is one of the elite who is there legitimately (sort of--in a sort-of ironic inversion, your mentor gives you special treatment while trying to prove his point about the lowered standards), while TheRival is one whose presence owes itself to the Lowered Standards.

* Happens in some of the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' novels. A lot of terran recruits are convicts, so the methods used involve arresting people for flimsy reasons, as well. In at least one case, people were outright kidnapped from colonies, using the brainwashing meant to keep the more violent convicts under control to instead tell them a fake story.
* Going by the backstories of the XCOM soldiers from ''VideoGame/{{XCOM2}}'', this clearly happened between ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' where soldiers recruited by the titular Extraterrestrial Combat Unit actually were trained soldiers fighting an AlienInvasion, while in the later game XCOM is basically LaResistance against a VichyEarth and the requirements to qualify for XCOM duty are "Do you hate the alien overlords?" and "can you hold a rifle somewhat straight?". In an example of GameplayAndStorySegregation, ''XCOM 2'' Rookies aren't noticeably worse shots than [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy their "professional" counterparts from the first game]].
* In ''VideoGame/Portal2'', the player gets to see Aperture Science at three times. The first time, all test subjects are Olympians, war heroes, astronauts, etc. Unfortunately, it's heavily implied that most of the aforementioned subjects ended up getting killed, resulting in Aperture being HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee and ending up nearly bankrupt. The second time, the test subject are all vagrants offered $60 for questionably safe experiments. By the third time, Aperture is reduced to performing tests on its own office workers, likely because nobody with a choice in the matter will participate.
* ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis IV'' (with the ''Cradle of Civilization'' DLC) has the Slacken recruitment standards interaction. Mechanically it drops the army professionalism level (which measures, well, how professional your army is, from 0 to 100) by 5 in exchange for giving you two years' worth of manpower.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' does it, when they go ''[[HeroesUnlimited Unlimited]]'', resulting in the recruitment of oddballs who have to be expelled later, like the Huntress. There are several members that outright wonder how ComicBook/TheQuestion got in. Given that this did happen in the wake of the Thanagarian Invasion, that saw the original members on the backfoot for most of the hostilities, it seems to be have been done to shore up numbers to prevent something similar from happening again. Superman also mentions that it's intended as a way for the various superheroes and vigilantes to coordinate with each other for the greater good. It should also be mentioned that quite a few of the oddballs are actually pretty good at hero work (Batman feels that Question is a better detective than himself) so the lowered standards can be countered by someone being a BunnyEarsLawyer so long as they're efficient and don't go against League standards. Also, it's explicitly stated that some of the weaker characters, like ComicBook/GreenArrow, were recruited in order to insure that the Justice League has people to provide viewpoints of those who ''can't'' move mountains. They wanted to make sure that there would be people who could provide perspectives of normal humans so that they didn't risk starting to think too much of themselves and go down the path of the Justice Lords.

* A segment on ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' (released before the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell) is a Navy recruitment ad targetting gay men and promising "Now we're more don't ask than ever before!"

* One of the points proponents of allowing gay members of the United States military to serve had against those arguing that allowing gay troops would somehow lower unit morale or affect unit discipline was that when the United States desperately needed people in uniform in the past they tended to be less interested in their personal lives and overlook things no matter how transparent the closet was, and there was no discernible effect even if everyone around a gay soldier knew they were gay.
* During the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar, Robert [=McNamara=] started the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_100,000 Project 100,000]], which involved recruiting 100000 persons who had scored in Category IV of the Armed Forces Qualification Test (meaning they were mentally [=and/or=] physically unable to serve): some of them were mentally challenged, suffered from light physical impairments or had weight issues, and others were unable to read, or even speak English. They were soon nicknamed [=McNamara=]'s Morons and [=McNamara=]'s Misfits, and suffered worse outcomes, either in or after the fighting, than regular recruits.

** During the Cimbrian War the Romans suffered various defeats, culminating in the annihilation of their field army at Arausio, with only Marius' army that was returning from victory in the Jugurthine War being available. Given full command and authority to do anything he deemed necessary, Marius did away with the property requirement for good to raise a new army, that, with the adoption of new tactics, was able to deal with the war. This ended up backfiring on Rome further down on the line, as the troops were now almost completely raised among the landless poors and more loyal to the generals responsible for their pay rather than the Senate, paving the way for the civil wars that would turn the Roman Republic in the Empire.

[[caption-width-right:236:Sometimes they even advertise the fact]]

An organization that has always had strict standards about who is allowed in their ranks has suddenly decided to become more lenient about who it recruits.

The most frequent reason for this change of policy is a need for more members. If the organization is combating some rival group or other force, then [[WeHaveReserves extra numbers]], even as CannonFodder, become extremely valuable.

This change in policy is also most frequently how our main character becomes a member of said group when before that the best they could have hoped for was to fanboy from afar. This decision is also often a cause of [[InterserviceRivalry friction]] between the those who support the new arrangement and the Old Guard who [[DislikesTheNewGuy resent the "riffraff" coming into their midst]].

This trope is specific to when an organization changes the rules to allow more people to join, as opposed to situations for the elite organization making a special exception for an especially talented individual who otherwise wouldn't have been able to join.

As anyone in, well any Armed Forces can tell you, this is certainly TruthInTelevision, as seen with TradingBarsForStripes (when criminals are hired, often forcibly), ChildSoldiers (when recruits are taken younger) and OldSoldier (when older applicants are considered). Not to be confused with TooDesperateToBePicky, which is about a person being hungry enough that they're willing to eat ''anything''.

* In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' lack of numbers is the reason that a third class devil like Elsie gets trained and sent to Earth to capture loose spirits; a job previously reserved for the best of the best. To elaborate, there was massive numbers of runaway spirits that escaped hell realm and invading human realm 10 years prior. To counter this, the hell realm government recruits as many as possible.

* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'' is this trope taken to religious fervor; the war between Angels, Demons, and Renegades ([[FallenAngel Fallen Angels]] who unionized) has finally ended... because everyone ran out of reserves and half the leadership was wiped out [[spoiler:including God and the four demon Overlords]]. To survive, the three factions are recruiting humans and breeding like crazy - our protagonist among the most important of these 'mutt-demons'.

** It is the origin of the anecdote of Joseph Kennedy deciding to sell his shares after he heard his shoe shine boy speaking about investing in Wall Street: it meant that it will be, in the future, no much to buy his assets and that he would be better off selling them ''now''.

* This happened with TheMafia in the US. Originally, a member could only become a made man if he was of full Sicilian descent. However, this limited the pool of potential inductees so the rule changed so that men of full-Italian descent could be considered. Then, due to increased inter-marriage, the rule was further relaxed so include men of half-Italian descent through their father's side could be inducted.

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* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' is basically this trope taken to literally religious fervor; the war between Angels, Demons, and Renegades ([[FallenAngel Fallen Angels]] who unionized) has finally ended... because everyone ran out of reserves and half the leadership was wiped out [[spoiler:including God and the four demon Overlords]]. To survive, the three factions are recruiting humans and breeding like crazy - our protagonist among the most important of these 'mutt-demons'.

* Happens in some of the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' novels. A lot of terran recruits are convincts, so the methods used involve arresting people for flimsy reasons, as well. In at least one case, people were outright kidnapped from colonies, using the brainwashing meant to keep the more violent convicts under control to instead tell them a fake story.

** This also happens in volunteer armies in times of war. The need for manpower increases due to attrition (read: people getting blown up) and the fact that it seems pre-war analysis of manpower requirements never seem to be close to actual obligations which occur during wartime. Therefore standards are either gradually lowered, this might be explicitly written down or implicitly by interpreting requirements loosely and by making what were supposed to be rarely granted waiviers and turning them in to something given as of routine. Eitherway the army swells in size

** During the Cimbrian War the Romans suffered various defeats, culminating in the annihilation of their field army at Arausio, with only Marius' army that was returning from victory in the Jugurtine War being available. Given full command and authority to do anything he deemed necessary, Marius did away with the property requirement for good to raise a new army, that, with the adoption of new tactics, was able to deal with the war. This ended up backfiring on Rome further down on the line, as the troops were now almost completely raised among the landless poors and more loyal to the generals responsible for their pay rather than the Senate, paving the way for the civil wars that would turn the Roman Republic in the Empire.

* PlayedForDrama in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers''. Due to the approaching Uruk-hai army being several times larger than anticipated, Theoden's army, having taken refuge at Helm's Deep, is forced to start conscripting all hands in the fort, including old men and children (some looking to be as young as 10) to bolster their numbers.

*** The sixth book mentions that Voldemort had to do this after his return. He would have loved to severly punish the Death Eaters whom defected after his apparent death fifteen years prior, but his severe lack of minions forces him to keep them around.

* In one episode of ''Series/HogansHeroes'', Klink is in danger of going into combat on the Russian front, and [=POW=]s[[note]]needing him to stick around less they get a competent commandant who discovers their operation[[/note]] try to help him get out of it by making sure he's in the worst possible physical health. Unfortunately, it ends up being in vain as the physician approves Klink anyway, saying that he fulfills the one main requirement: the fact that he's ''breathing''.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' episode [[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012S1E22PulverizerReturns "Pulverizer Returns"]], it is revealed that the Foot Clan has invoked this trope, due to many of the former members quitting after losing to the turtles so often.

As anyone in, well any Armed Forces can tell you, this is certainly TruthInTelevision, as seen with BoxedCrook (when criminals are hired, often forcibly), ChildSoldiers (when recruits are taken younger) and OldSoldier (when older applicants are considered). Not to be confused with TooDesperateToBePicky, which is about a person being hungry enough that they're willing to eat ''anything''.

** In the sixth book, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Harry is accepted in the advanced Potions class because the new teacher has lower standards than Snape's. Unlike most examples on this page, however, it's implied Snape's admittance requirements were too high (demanding the Wizarding equivalent of an A on the exam, while the replacement also allowed those with the B grade equivalent). Snape was also unable to apply this requirement to his new class, as this would have left him teaching a one-student class (a student by the name of Harry Potter...).
** The sixth book mentions that Voldemort had to do this after his return. He would have loved to severly punish the Death Eaters whom defected after his apparent death fifteen years prior, but his severe lack of minions forces him to keep them around.

* The ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' normally recruits its D-class personnel (human test subjects) from death row criminals, and terminates the survivors at the end of the month. In times of need, they start grabbing from lesser criminals, and sometimes escalates to just grabbing civilians and using amnesics on them. Their plans for world-wide apocalypse have several levels, with only the last one planning for the release of superviolent and/or insane criminals if it comes down to there being ''any'' human beings left at all.

As anyone in, well any Armed Forces can tell you, this is certainly TruthInTelevision, as seen with BoxedCrook (when criminals are hired, often forcibly), ChildSoldiers (when recruits are taken younger) and OldSoldier (when older appliants are considered).

-->-- '''Moffle''', ''LightNovel/AmagiBrilliantPark''

* In ''LightNovel/AmagiBrilliantPark'', the staff is so short-handed and budget-stiffed that management is forced to hire a cast of misfits so weird they make the Magical Fairy People who compose the main staff look comparably sane. (Compare {{Beast M|an}}en and globes-for-heads to a failed mayoral candidate and a normal-looking girl with a perverted serial killer for a brother).

* Harry Dresden, title character of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' and black sheep of the wizarding community is recruited into the [[spoiler:[[StateSec Wardens]] and made regional commander for the central United States]] due to their shorthandedness during the vampire war.

* In ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'', each of Harry's men fails their NASA evaluations. Finally, Truman asks if they can merely survive the trip to the asteroid, and a doctor replies that he's surprised they even survived the tests.

** An interesting take on this is when the US military started mass recruitment during [=WW1=], they discovered a large percentage were below acceptable standards on UsefulNotes/IQTesting. This forced the authorities to confront the fact that the IQ test of the era was skewed by education and cultural bias.