Once these recruits couldn't make the cut. Now they make up a quarter of Army troops.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

FORT JACKSON, SC – Every Tuesday before dawn, hundreds of hopefuls line up with exposed midriffs to be weighed and measured at this South Carolina Army base, which takes in more recruits than any other.

For course trainees, a drop in body fat could mean shipping out to begin a career in the Army within days. Otherwise, these future soldiers are consigned to another week working off the pounds.

Anticipation and anxiety pervade as they file one by one past a desk where a drill sergeant informs each one of their fate. Some cheer for joy. Others wipe away tears.

Trainees like these, who wouldn't have made the cut due to poor test scores or struggles with pushups a decade ago, now make up nearly one quarter of the U.S. Army's new recruits.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/once-recruits-couldnt-cut-now-070106269.html

Interesting. I did my basic training way back in 1975 at Fort Jackson FWIW.

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. Good grief

Sounds like the Russian military. A bunch of yahoos who couldn't even muster for the Gravy seals.

My son went into the Army in 1995. He was in great shape and barely missed out on Soldier of the Cycle in basic training. He was named Soldier of the Cycle in AIT. The guys (and women) who brought up the rear weren't exactly laughed at; the DIs had the people doing better try to help them get better. I guess that's no longer the way.

Funny story. My son had been taught to shoot by his dad at about age 11. His manner was deemed unorthodox by the rifle instructor in basic even though he was hitting bullseye most of the time, so the instructor attempted to change it. However, the attempt resulted in terrible scores, so he told him to go back to the way he'd learned, AND had him teach a bunch of kids who didn't know one end of the rifle fro another. Same with map reading, BTW. I'd learned to read a map as soon as I could read, and taught my kids the same way. He got put in charge of that, too.

[LogDog75]

2. That sounds like a good program

The pool of eligible recruits is dwindling because too many of enlistment age are overweight. Give them the training to lose weight to enlist in the military and there's a good chance they could continue to meet weight standards.

The one part of the program that I have concern with is the low test scores. There are a lot of jobs in the military that require technical training and test scores are an indicator of whether a person can learn. Back in the 80s, my brother was an Army instructor in radio communications and he told me he'd wash out about half the class because the students couldn't read. It was so bad their training materials was written in comic book form.

[Tree Lady]

3. Watching NCIS

And they just showed someone who was rejected ended up a serial killer. Wonder how often that happens?

[Jacson6]

4. When I went to Army Basic in 1985.

I could barely do ten pushups, was ten pounds overweight and could barely run a few blocks. By the time it ended I could do 70 pushups, lost thirty pounds and ran two miles in about fourteen minutes.

[Solly Mack]

5. Used to be soldiers got booted out for putting on too much weight and failing to lose it.

They'd give you time to drop the weight but at a certain point, you got chaptered out.

[Melon]

6. You can't be considered fit for the military and be fat.

That part makes sense. We have a huge obesity problem in the YS and most kids no longer qualify since they are out of shape.

Taking low score kids is an issue. That was proven during lowering of scores during the Vietnam war.

[mtairyguy]

7. We did PT in the OD Green Days!

I did my basic at Ft. Benning in June and July, 1981. I maxed PT tests (not my first though) on push-ups and sit-ips, with 68 and 70, respectively, each in 2 minutes.


Heavy guys (there were no females) were called hog-bodies and were dogged as ‘road guards’ on marches. Those drill sergeants with Vietnam service didn’t care about themselves, let alone trainee privates! Folks actually died in basic, including a sergeant major from heat stroke.

[pecosbob]

8. The Army quite literally wrote the book on IQ testing

A full quartile of the population are typically found to be incapable of wielding a mop or paintbrush properly, let alone a weapon.

I'd take a guess that the real problem they're facing is stupid people, not fat people.