Credit Reports and Canon Fodder

The use of credit scores by the military to track recruits into particular areas of service adds another, potentially fatal, twist to a familiar story. During the Vietnam War, the connection between social class and the likelihood of becoming cannon fodder was made through educational deferments. Those wealthy enough to attend college could avoid combat.
Now, the connection between social class and front-line combat is maintained by the use of credit scores to track recruits into particular service areas. Individuals with lower credit scores and higher levels of debt are unable to obtain the security clearances that might allow them to select non-combat jobs. Low-income individuals with high student loan burdens and difficult work histories may view military service as a way to improve their lives, but their path to a better life runs through the front lines.
In a society where race and parental financial situation remain the best predictors of an individual's social class, measures such as credit scores that are highly correlated with social class simply- replicate existing patterns of inequality. Their use provides one more reason why poverty is too often a life- or, in the case of the military, a death- sentence.