Educational Breakdown: Nearly 1 in 4 fails military exam

Nearly 1 in 4 fails military exam - Yahoo! News:
Well folks, how do you spel "I wanna be a solder?"
Amazing but true. When the education "system" can barely produce the quantity of persons needed for the military, then indeed it is a national security issue. Please note that this story is about the US Army, not the Marines or Air Force which have higher requirements.
Probably more interesting and more telling are some of the comments. What would some have us do? Cut back on the Dept. of Education, cut back on teacher pay, cut back on testing, cut back on teachers unions, etc. Cut, cut, cut.
In my career I had the distinct privilege of traveling to Japan and northern Europe. The privilege was extended by getting to know and work with very well educated engineers and other professionals. Being of a curious bent I had the chance to dig into why, other than strictly "culture" did it seem that there were so many well educated persons. Germany and Japan had the most to say about this: very well educated, highly paid teachers. I am sure that there are other factors. But it is the high value placed on teachers, not just in salary but in prestige and social ranking. Look up "sensai" in the Japanese sense. Unfortunately I did not get to know many Chinese. But you might look up what Confucius had to do and say about education thousands of years ago. Or, maybe thinking a little bit about how scary this could be: who do you think would win a war (hot or cold or economic) between Chinese soldiers or USA soldiers? Got your attention now?
And finally, the notion of a "system". I personally don't see a "system" in the engineering sense of a) inputs; b) outputs; c) feedback; d) controls that work; e)interrelationships with other systems. For example, if indeed the national defense system depends on an educational system that can provide the gamut of soldiers / military leaders necessary, how are these two linked?