By Wochit

New recruits in the U.S. military are getting slightly older with more than half of Army 1）enlistees age 20 or above compared with a few decades ago， when only a third were in the older age group， according to a 2）Rand Corporation study released Wednesday. “The trend is a 3）boon for the military because older recruits have a greater tendency to re-enlist and achieve promotions at higher rates than those who join out of high school，”the report says. Many told researchers they delayed signing up for the military in order to attend college. Some 38% said they simply wanted to take some time off after high school. About a third of older recruits said they ultimately chose the military because of a weak civilian job market. Half said the market offered nothing but dead-end jobs.

美軍新兵出現(xiàn)了輕微的大齡化趨勢。蘭德公司在本周三（4月23日）發(fā)布的一份研究報告中指出，過半數(shù)美軍應征者的年齡在20歲或以上——而在數(shù)十年前，大齡士兵的比例僅為三分之一。報告中還稱：“這個趨勢對軍隊來說是件好事，因為和那些高中畢業(yè)就參軍的士兵相比，大齡新兵更有可能延長服役時間，并且有更多人獲得晉升?！痹S多受訪者對研究人員表示，他們推遲報名參軍是為了上大學；有38%的人表示他們只是想在高中畢業(yè)后休息一段時間；近三分之一的大齡新兵說，他們最終選擇了入伍是因為民間就業(yè)市場的不景氣；一半人認為市場上提供的工作都沒有發(fā)展前途。