This fat-boy / fat-girl nonsense will only further weaken the military. If they are in the service and are to fat run their asses for an hour a day with a consecutive hour of PT. Then at chow time pull the butter, mayo white and ice cream.

The North Koreans, People Republic Army, ISIS and the Iranian religious lunatics are butterballs.

The military needs new leadership starting with Secretary if Defense, Chief of Staff of each service and on down the command chain.

Probably not. But they know it now reflects the majority of their recruiting pool, and they're going to have to live with it.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

And the AF thinks they're gonna fix that

"Well, my name's Dewey Oxburger. My friends call me Ox. I dont know if you've noticed, but I got a slight weight problem. Yeah, yeah I do. Yeah, I do. I went to this doctor. Well, he told me I swallow a lot of aggression... along with a lot of pizzas! Ha Ha Ha! Pizzas! I'm basically a shy person, I'm a shy guy. Uh, he suggested taking one these uh, aggression training courses. You know these aggression training courses like EST, those type of things. Anyway, it cost 400 bucks! 400 bucks to join this thing? Well I didn't have the money and I thought to myself, "Join the Army Air Force! It's free. So I figured while I'm here I'll lose a few pounds. And you got what, a 6 to 8 week training program here? A real tough one. Which is perfect for me."

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
When I was in the AF, If you were found to be overweight, you were put on a mandatory weight loss program widely referred to as the "fat boy program". You were given X number of months to drop the weight. If you did not, you were discharged.
The VN war was winding down but the drinking was still in full swing. My barracks had a beer machine. 25 cents for a can. They were finally removed when the weight and drinking became a real problem.

I was put on the "Fat Boy" program as soon as I hit Basic Training. LOL It was quickly worked off of me through running.

I've not served, but as with most people, I know plenty who have. Which means I've friends and acquaintances that have been let down by their country one way or another after their service. Usually by the VA.
Can we not afford to move towards quality over quantity? Perhaps freeing up some funding that is desperately needed after service?

I ask because over 750 bases worldwide in 80 countries suggests "recruitment quotas" may not be all that necessary.
Do we have to be everywhere all at once? Really?

Maybe I'm out of line saying anything, it's just that seeing the OP only makes all of this more frustrating somehow.

What issues are there with the VA?

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Also probably not true. My son went through Parris Island last year. I have met and talked to his platoon mates and buddies. For the most part they do not give a shit about DEI. Or ESG scores. Or any of that. At all.

Indeed.

Well the US military sure has had a hell of a ride under democrats haven't they?

This idiot chairman of the joint chiefs, Milley, has been a total disaster, and I don't think we know the half of it as yet.

Is it just me, or does anyone else associate his name with this kind of image?

Ever since I first heard his name, I can't help it. We likely would have been better off with her in the position anyway.

General Millie.

quote:

We are not lowering our standards, but rather we are aligning our standards with the overall DoD policy," Brown added

So the DOD lowered their standards and the Airforce is just following.

I guess I was one of your 'fat boys.' I struggled with my weight for 23 yrs in the USAF.

Not everybody is born with a bodybuilder/marathon runner physique. And just because some of us are/were overweight doesn't mean we were pieces of crap. Some of the attitudes towards us heavier people is downright juvenile, mean, and/or plain ignorant.

The Air Force seemed to care more about PT test scores than whether you could do ypur job well.

'You got a 100% on your PT? Good job; don't worry that you can't do your job. All we care about is appearances and high PT scores.'. .

'You failed a PT test? What a piece of crap. Now go train mr 100% so he is half as good at the job as you are.'

I wish they would have eased the standards a tad while I was still in.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

We are not lowering our standards

Bullshit.

Not lowering, just widening

I was always that fat little chubby kid growing up.

From playing little league football to the US Army, I always struggled with body fat.

A lot of it is hereditary which I get from my mom's side of the family. My fathers side of the family is broad shoulders and a narrow waist. My moms side is egg plant shaped.

I have quite a few soldiers I served with who got out because they were always flagged for body fat. One of my good friends who is a Police Officer in WV, was always flagged because of his shape. He got 270-280s on his PT test and the M240 looked like a BB gun in his hands but he always had that extra inch.

A lot of it is that stupid tape test and they weigh they measure people.

I just turned 51, and I am so tired of being told by 20-30 year olds how hard it is to lose weight when you get older blah blah.

It is another reason that the Army is losing so many NCO and older troops.

So I think I'll be Devil's Advocate here.

We have to fight with what we have. As others have observed, we don't have what we had 20, 30, 40 or more years ago. The country as a whole is much fatter and much more liberal. Oh, maybe not for the people inclined to combat arms MOSs, but for technical MOSs, I can see DEI being an issue. If we decide we need a fighting force of X soldiers/ sailors/ airmen{persons], what do we do? We change (not necessarily "relax", but change) standards. The devil is, of course, in the details, and I have no answers for that as I'm an old curmudgeon.

A few other random thoughts:

Re: non-combat-arms MOSs - why not have a separate set of standards for them? Does a geek that sits at a computer really need to score 300 on the PT test?

Re: the recruitment "medal" - why not take a lesson from private industry and offer bonuses for qualified referrals that join? Why do we need a medal?

Re: low numbers for Maintainers and Security Forces - I have no answer for this, as they definitely need to not be "fat boys". That's a problem.

Re: "The Air Force has already made several changes to widen the pool of recruits, including ... launching a pilot program for recruits who test positive for THC to retest." - When I enlisted, I told the recruiter I tried pot twice and it didn't do anything for me, so I didn't do it. He was aghast, and told me not to mention it. Now we are figuring out how to keep them when the pop positive at MEPS? Pisses me off.

Finally, I'll say it once more. We have to fight with what we have. Changing what we have is not possible, that ship has long since sailed. So we have to figure out how to do it.