U.S. Army recruiting says by 2020 they will be unable to meet goals due to obesity

[Eurodriver]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...erve-2020.html

'We think by 2020 it could be as high as 50 percent, which mean only 2 in 10 would qualify to join the Army. It's a sad testament to who we are as a society right now.'

[thei3ug]

Clearly the Army needs to justify this 20% standard, as it's discriminatory to those of us who don't eat at a public school cafeteria three times a day.

[jpmuscle]

Well they can stop telling me I'm to old for starters.. I'm still in my twenties dammit.

[Eurodriver]

Well they can stop telling me I'm to old for starters.. I'm still in my twenties dammit.

WHAT. I saw specialists in Iraq who were damn near 40.

[GTF425]

Well they can stop telling me I'm to old for starters.. I'm still in my twenties dammit.

What?

Send me a PM and let me know what recruiting station you've been talking to.

[wildcard600]

Guess they will have to lower thier standards more.

[Vandal]

That is sad but it doesn't surprise me. In the fields of LE applicants the biggest single cut made is the physical agility test.

[BrigandTwoFour]

Guess they will have to lower thier standards more.

This.

Unless someone starts emphasizing a JFK style focus on fitness starting at an early age, it isn't going to get fixed. Our culture has entirely abandoned the idea of forcing physical activity.

[Eurodriver]

That is sad but it doesn't surprise me. In the fields of LE applicants the biggest single cut made is the physical agility test.

What's interesting to me about LE is that all of my buddies who have gone that route after the military all say the academy is pretty rigorous with PT. Talking 3 days a week of 3+ mile runs, calisthenics, etc. That's some USMC type stuff.

However, easily 2/3 of LE in that same department are clinically obese? Alaskapopo even defended them years ago saying he'd rather have some big fat guy in a fight with some guy than a stick figure marathon runner as the vast majority of LE encounters are beat downs and you've always got your car if you need to run somewhere far anyway. While that makes sense, why the need for such haze-fest PT sessions in the academy then?

On to the point - where's the disconnect? Is the PT test a "Pass it once and you're good for life" thing?

[WillBrink]

What's interesting to me about LE is that all of my buddies who have gone that route after the military all say the academy is pretty rigorous with PT. Talking 3 days a week of 3+ mile runs, calisthenics, etc. That's some USMC type stuff.

However, easily 2/3 of LE in that same department are clinically obese? Alaskapopo even defended them years ago saying he'd rather have some big fat guy in a fight with some guy than a stick figure marathon runner as the vast majority of LE encounters are beat downs and you've always got your car if you need to run somewhere far anyway. While that makes sense, why the need for such haze-fest PT sessions in the academy then?

On to the point - where's the disconnect? Is the PT test a "Pass it once and you're good for life" thing?

Depending on the area and PD, yup. In a major metro east coast PD they attempted to add a required yearly PT test, and even planned to grand father people who where hired before a specific date, and the union prevented it. So after they are hired, zero PT tests expected of them. And, they reduced the shooting qual (which was as minimum standards as it was) to be even less often than it was, but that's another topic...