Poor Physical Fitness Now Affecting Military
Shrinking Pool of Prospects May Have Long-Term Consequences for U.S.
Nov 15, 2009
The frequent lack of regular exercise and physical fitness that has permeated much of American society is affecting the U.S. military and the eligibility of potential recruits. According to a new report, trends are looking less favorable regarding the future pool of military prospects willing and able to serve.
Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Defense Department has compiled figures estimating that approximately 26 million young Americans between the desired recruiting ages of 17 and 24 cannot now meet minimum military standards of physical fitness. A group of retired military officials cited these findings in a study they released November 5 entitled “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve,” issued through Mission: Readiness, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization.
Report Finds Other Health Factors Affecting Recruiting Aside From Obesity Epidemic
“Other factors, such as drug use, criminal records and mental problems, contribute to what military leaders say is a major problem that threatens the country’s ability to defend itself at a time when the all-volunteer force is already strained fighting two wars,” Christian Davenport and Emma Brown wrote in the November 5, 2009 Washington Post in “Girding for an uphill battle for recruits.”
Even with the efforts to make the volunteer military a success, 25% of young Americans don’t have a high school diploma and some who do fail to pass the armed forces aptitude test, Gen. Wesley Clark, former supreme allied NATO commander, said at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington to unveil the report.
“One of the reasons why young people don’t go in the military today or are not eligible to go in is because of health, and the biggest single reason in that category is obesity,” retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier Gen. John Douglass told the news conference. In only one state is the obesity rate below 20% and in 32 states it is above 25%, and in six states above 30%, Douglass noted.
Current "Propensity to Serve" May Be Reducing Number of Potential Military Enlistees
“The group of potential enlistees is further slimmed by the ‘propensity to serve’ among American youths, which social scientists say also is declining,” Noah Shachtman said in “75% of Potential Recruits Too Fat, Too Sickly, Too Dumb to Serve,” in the November 4, 2009 Wired. “But as the economy improves, and the war in Afghanistan drags on, it’s going to be tough to rely on such a tiny sliver of America’s youth to maintain an all-volunteer force.”
The Mission: Readiness report said 27% of young Americans nationally are too overweight to join the military. Of those who attempt to join, some 15,000 young potential recruits fail their entrance physicals because of their weight.
“To pass an Army physical fitness test, an 18-year-old male must be able to do 42 push-ups in two minutes, 53 sit-ups in two minutes and run two miles in 15 minutes and 54 seconds,” Davenport and Brown said in their Post article.
“The issue is not new,” Henry Cuningham wrote in “Study: Majority of young men unfit for military service,” in the November 5, 2009 Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina. “Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston said in a speech at Fort Bragg in April 2007 that 70 percent of males ages 17 to 24 are unfit for military service. ‘It’s been a festering or emerging issue over the last few years,’ said Lt. Col. George Sterling, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion-Raleigh.”
Some are skeptical that 70% to 75% of American youth really are unable to serve. They think it is more likely that around 75% of those who sign up are ineligible. A portion of recruits who are accepted may not necessarily finish their three-year tour of duty. But even overweight potential soldiers who seek to enlist are given every reasonable opportunity to be helped to get in.
DoD Obesity Standards Sometimes Can Be Modified by Individual Services
The Department of Defense sets overall obesity standards and measurement of body fat, which the individual services then can modify in some cases. Often younger candidates must comply with a stricter standard and can be discharged if they exceed it.
More recently, the military has provided on-the-job fitness and conditioning workouts. The Navy, for example, has added conditioning at bases, air stations, and ships. “If they exceed the Army’s weight standards, recruits can come to the station and run or do other exercises with Army personnel,” Martha Quillin wrote in the November 6, 2009 Raleigh, North Carolina News & Observer in “Pool of military recruits increasingly unfit.”
Stew Smith, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former Navy SEAL who has conducted military physical fitness training, calls for a steady routine of exercise. “Fitness is a daily habit that needs to be developed four to six times a week,” he said.
If recruits arrive prepared for their physical fitness test, it becomes “just another workout” with the only real anxiety being a healthy dose of adrenaline that enables them to compete with their counterparts. “So preparing for these programs could take at least six to 12 months to be an above average performer,” Smith noted. “However, today, as our adult population grows in waist size and decreases in fitness level, so has American children’s weight and fitness.”
When looking at how to get into shape, some think they must jump straight into the most demanding exercises or long workouts. The result often is injury, loss of motivation, or fatigue, Smith said. A full spectrum of fitness as the military defines it means being lean and powerful with a high strength-to-weight ratio to promote maximum physical performance. Everyone, he emphasized, should exercise in a manner that does not lead to soreness that impedes performance.
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