Too fat to fight!

[Hiro Protagonist]

US youngsters are too fat to fight, warn generals

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8655651.stm

 

This is quite interesting

[Enoch]

Yeah, it's bull****

So how many Dewey Oxbergers are there in America? The same panel of military leaders released another report back in November, citing claims that 75 percent of the 17- to 24-year-olds in the United States were ineligible for service for one reason or another. The Pentagon's director of accessions, Curtis Gilroy, presented the same numbers to the House Armed Services Committee last March. He said that 35 percent of potential recruits are disqualified for medical reasons, with obesity being a major factor. Another 18 percent have drug or alcohol problems, 5 percent have criminal records, 6 percent have too many children; and 9 percent score in the prohibitive category V on the Armed Forces Aptitude Test.

 

It's true that if you add those numbers, you'll get something close to 75 percent. But that assumes no two of the above-listed groups are overlapping. In other words, the 18 percent of young people with drug or alcohol problems are entirely distinct from the 5 percent with criminal records. And the 35 percent with medical disqualifications are in all other respects ideal military candidates. (I could find no evidence that these data were corrected appropriately.)

 

...

 

What's really worth focusing on is the number of youngsters who seem eager to serve but fail their physicals specifically because they're too fat. According to the numbers cited in the report, an average of 10,000 men and women fall into this category every year. If recruiters had given every one of those would-be soldiers a magical weight-loss pill in 2009, their enlistment class would have increased in size by just 3 percent. That's not insignificant, but it doesn't compare to this week's headline-grabbers, 27 percent and 9 million.

Ever since the economy tanked, military recruiters have been having no trouble at all hitting their targets. There are plenty of good reasons to worry about obesity in America, but the prospect of not being able to find enough people fit for military service is about 397th on the list.

[Walsingham]

I've got a crazy idea: why don't we just accept that our lardy shape is a consequence of the peace and propserity we enjoy. And celebrate it?

[HoonDing]

Why doesn't the US use them to train a special unit of Sumo Wrestlers? They could be used as the vanguard of any new invasions and replace tanks.

[Hurlshort]

I'm surprised how many kids fail PE in High School nowadays too. My wife tells me she has about a 60% passing rate, granted she is at a tough school, but that is really sad. An example of an assignment is doing a mile in 10 minutes. You can get that done with a slow jog, and kids still fail it!

[213374U]

Nothing to worry about, gentlemen. America has hit Peak Fat.

 

Dr. Ludwig said the plateau might just suggest that

[Syraxis]

I'm surprised how many kids fail PE in High School nowadays too. My wife tells me she has about a 60% passing rate, granted she is at a tough school, but that is really sad. An example of an assignment is doing a mile in 10 minutes. You can get that done with a slow jog, and kids still fail it!

 

I graduated HS three years ago and I used to pass that **** in under 9 minutes (average was 8:33 - 8:57 IIRC).

 

Granted; my dimensions are 5.7" ft, 137 lbs as of March 23.

[Trenitay]

I can't do a mile in under 10 minutes and I'm not even fat.

[Gorgon]

I need a reason to move even the slightest. Proving that it's theoretically possible to get from A to B in under 10 minutes does not suffice.

[Blarghagh]

I'm surprised how many kids fail PE in High School nowadays too. My wife tells me she has about a 60% passing rate, granted she is at a tough school, but that is really sad. An example of an assignment is doing a mile in 10 minutes. You can get that done with a slow jog, and kids still fail it!

 

Hell, I can make that and I have Asthma and Bronchitis. I do kinda collapse afterward though.

[Hurlshort]

I believe 10 minutes is for full credit. So you would still get decent marks if you were in the 12 min. Range. But theyh do this every week, there should be some progress. Id huff my way through a mile right now, but after a couple weeks id start improving.

[Orogun01]

Body fat has nothing to do with fighting capabilities, the Maori are fat and they are renown warriors. Plus they are from the time when you had to walk everywhere and still be fit enough to club your enemy, none of today's "lift a gun and get there by chopper"

[Morgoth]

Let a fatty run up some hills. Watch what happens.

[Calax]

During the recruitment process that I went through, literally if you said ANYTHING about almost any medical condition they'd outright dq you. Mild ADD? Gone, Broken bone three years ago? Gone, Tattoo they don't like? Gone...

 

Sometimes I think they're just a TINY bit too stringent.

[Junai]

Food Inc. should be in the elementary school curriculum.

 

 

I should add, in Europe as well.

Same stuff happening over here.

Edited May 1, 2010 by Junai

[Wrath of Dagon]

In the future, robots will fight for us anyway.

[Gromnir]

anybody heard o' the block scheduling system gaining popularity in high schools? students have 4 classes a day, and each class is approx. 90 minutes in duration. for obvious reasons, not every kid has pe on their daily schedule. to meet fed & state requirements related to student physical exercise, students not currently taking a pe class in school must provide a note from their parents regarding the student's physical activities.

 

am actual not certain o' the logistics o' the parental note, but it sounds kinda sketchy to us. where implemented, the block system has had a significant positive impact on standardized test scores (though we thinks that some o' the positive gains is a result o' smoke 'n mirrors) but we has seen no studies measuring student fitness trends resulting from a block schedule.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Guard Dog]

I would not worry about this too much. I can guarantee you the young folks joining the US Marines will be in olympic level physical condition after 13 weeks at Parris Island followed by five weeks at Camp Geiger. Or eighteen weeks at MCRD San Diego and Camp Pendleton. No matter how sloppy fat or weak you are when you showed up, if you graduate you will be very fit. Of course only about 60-65% do graduate.

[Calax]

anybody heard o' the block scheduling system gaining popularity in high schools? students have 4 classes a day, and each class is approx. 90 minutes in duration. for obvious reasons, not every kid has pe on their daily schedule. to meet fed & state requirements related to student physical exercise, students not currently taking a pe class in school must provide a note from their parents regarding the student's physical activities.

 

am actual not certain o' the logistics o' the parental note, but it sounds kinda sketchy to us. where implemented, the block system has had a significant positive impact on standardized test scores (though we thinks that some o' the positive gains is a result o' smoke 'n mirrors) but we has seen no studies measuring student fitness trends resulting from a block schedule.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Actually, my high school was Block schedule. But you only had 6 periods total, three per day except mondays. Each course went on for about 2 hrs, and the teachers didn't know what the heck they could do on mondays because they didn't have enough time.

 

And Dog, the thing is in order to get INTO parris you have to meet a BMI requirement (I believe, It's based off height, weight and a few proportions)

[Walsingham]

I think I'm eminently qualified to point out that you need a base level of fitness to even participate in training. I think being mainly sedentary is far more dangerous than body fat. I've seen perfectly spherical senior NCOs blasting along like running snakes.

 

I also agree with WoD. Western warfare is going to become robot based. Hell, it already is moving that way.

[Monte Carlo]

I think they need to dust off that Men Who Stare At Goats programme.

 

Super-obese psi-warriors could kill the enemy by remote viewing from their hand-tooled leatherette Barca-loungers. Word.

[Walsingham]

I think they need to dust off that Men Who Stare At Goats programme.

 

Super-obese psi-warriors could kill the enemy by remote viewing from their hand-tooled leatherette Barca-loungers. Word.

 

That reminds me I need to return the copy I borrowed. Well worth a read, although I think you need to read between the lines to get the true story.

[Busomjack]

I'm surprised how many kids fail PE in High School nowadays too. My wife tells me she has about a 60% passing rate, granted she is at a tough school, but that is really sad. An example of an assignment is doing a mile in 10 minutes. You can get that done with a slow jog, and kids still fail it!

 

That is pitiful. I can run 5K(3.1 miles) in 19:33.

[RPGmasterBoo]

When the socialists were in power here during the Yugoslav years high schools had "pre-military training" just like any other class, consisting of physical and military exercises. Lovely thing, a pity it was dropped.

 

The state today doesn't want militarily capable people, armed people and it does everything to eradicate physical violence, yet it still expects to find individuals to fight its wars. Ridiculous considering how much it has done to subdue the martial spirit in the average person.

[Orogun01]

When the socialists were in power here during the Yugoslav years high schools had "pre-military training" just like any other class, consisting of physical and military exercises. Lovely thing, a pity it was dropped.

 

The state today doesn't want militarily capable people, armed people and it does everything to eradicate physical violence, yet it still expects to find individuals to fight its wars. Ridiculous considering how much it has done to subdue the martial spirit in the average person.

I really hated it, all that marching, learning military tactics, and falling into formation.

 

It really shouldn't be surprising that the State has both emasculated citizens and force unreasonable standards since Americans are living contradictions.