I've often thought older gents had a role that the military for reasons of old habit hasn't been able to see. A lot of the routine work -- from maintenance to inventory control and so on -- could be handled by more sedentary folk who would be pressed into the fray only rarely in the case of dire emergency. Able to take the long view, they would be a steadying force, asking no more than any other recruit except for a window of time in afternoons for napping.
I've often thought older gents had a role that the military for reasons of old habit hasn't been able to see. A lot of the routine work -- from maintenance to inventory control and so on -- could be handled by more sedentary folk who would be pressed into the fray only rarely in the case of dire emergency. Able to take the long view, they would be a steadying force, asking no more than any other recruit except for a window of time in afternoons for napping.