Obesity in British Army

[Labarum]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...y-back-in-Afghanistan-leaked-memo-claims.html

Well, I have just retired after 33 years service and the recruits are of course recruited from the general population where obesity has been rising.

Factor in the politically correct "man-management" policies forced on us, and the pressures on time that squeeze out recreational sport, and you see how this has come to pass.

I retire in the highest medical grade "FE" (Forward Everywhere), which does not mean that I am (aged 60) as fit as an 18 year old; and does not mean that I would be suited to serve with front line infantry; but it does mean that I have no medical conditions which would render me unsuitable for deployment worldwide.

How is it working in the US Forces?

Unfortunately many service men and women do.

 

[knlgskr]

The USA has similar problems, would that we could "eat our way to peace" but that is wishful thinking. Trouble does seem to originate in the "hungry nations" of our planet perhaps that is a mitigating factor along with others.

 

[Bushranger]

the NAVY i can understand. a floatation life saving device. not good for army or airforce, big target and heavy fuel load respectively

 

[gearguywb]

I spent a few years as a Drill Sergeant and was very unimpressed by some of the new recruits that were coming into the military. I always reminded myself that they are a product of our society and a direct reflection on how they were raised.

The opposite can also be true. We had some highly motivated young people entering the service that had enough foresight to realize that getting into and staying in shape was not an option.

 

[Kratos]

I spent a few years as a Drill Sergeant and was very unimpressed by some of the new recruits that were coming into the military. I always reminded myself that they are a product of our society and a direct reflection on how they were raised.
The opposite can also be true. We had some highly motivated young people entering the service that had enough foresight to realize that getting into and staying in shape was not an option.

That's always nice to see. I am appalled at how many fatbody 20-somethings there are these days. It's pathetic. And the clothes they wear(girls especially) don't do them any favors. If you have a 26-in waist, don't squeeze into a 24-in and then wear a short shirt. I don't see how the "Busted Can O' Biscuits" look became so popular.

 

[Labarum]

. . . would that we could "eat our way to peace" . . .

On one operational tour I would regularly say to my American colleague

"You might think I have come to see you, bit I've only come for the ice cream."

 

[RazorDingo]

It is a problem for the US military too - so much so that the US Army is considering a "fat farm" to help potential recruits meet the standard. (See story here.)

'Twas not always so. According to Stephen Ambrose' Citizen Soldiers a good percentage of the GI's drafted for World War II showed up at the recruiting stations seriously underweight - in no small part thanks to widespread malnutrition during the Depression years. According to Ambrose the average recuit gained more than 15 pounds during basic training - most of it, presumably, muscle.

I guess I'd rather have a society where the biggest problem was too much food - rather than too little. Kids these days have a choice about how much they eat. Kids during the Depression didn't.

 

[ClubmanRob]

I don't know much about the new recruits, but I can think of quite a few old timers that I personally knew that ended up getting kicked out of different branches for putting on the pounds. It doesn't look good for the service if you leave Basic at 170 pounds and four years down the road you're pushing 300, and it aint muscle.

The Army in particular seems to have really cracked down. I grew up around the military, and when I was a kid it was customary that everybody that had been in for around the ten year mark carried the obligatory spare tire. You don't see it that much anymore.

 

[David in Boston]

Were digging our graves with a knife and folk.

 

[MoreSaltThanPepper]

Here is one of the best articles I have ever seen on military (Air Force) fitness and a bunch of good stuff linked on the page. Be sure to read the "Realistic Training Tips" linked on the right.

http://chairforce.com/fitness/fit2sit.htm

Stationary bike test? Are they kidding?

Regards,

- John

 

[toucanlamp]

Well I was a reservist in the Canadian Forces for five years and sure there were lots of guys carrying extra pounds.

But the reality was, I knew a lot of skinny fit looking young guys who would be huffing and puffing and fall out on long marches, and then there was one great Sergeant in our unit who was a huge big fat guy, probably 5'9 and 300 pounds, and he would come out on the toughest exercise, go on the 20km marches with 70 pounds in the rucksack and have no problem whatsoever, and get the job done.

The right thing to do is what they have in place, they have physical fitness standards, people are tested on them once per year, it doesn't matter what your BMI is, if you can do what you need to do, then you are good. And for the people who can't meet the standard, they are assigned to extra physical training and then have to retake the test. It varies by trade and there are different standards for males vs. females.

It's a bigger problem in this reserves here, since you go out one night a week and one exercise or so per month, and so staying fit is largely up to the person. They talked about assigning the same requirements as the regular force, but backed off on it because they knew lots of people would fail and the attrition rate these days in the Canadian Army is appalling, something like 15% per year and recruiting goals are not being met time and time again, so it is a much more complex issue than just creating standards.

 

[Kratos]

BMI has always been a bunch of crap. And skinny doesn't always mean fit, as you pointed out. There is a term among workout-types called "skinny-fat," which sounds like the guys you are describing, basically skinny people with no level of fitness. I have respect for chubby people who have good endurance and stamina, but they'd have a much easier time if they ditched the adipose.

 

[Labarum]

The fashion industry and the image makers have a lot to answer for.

Grown men and women are today both expected to look like a skinny 15 year old boy; but women should have hips and breasts, and men should have sturdy torsos and wide shoulders. The fashions and the movies of the 1940s and 50s set far more realistic targets; and on the diet of those days most folk found the "perfect" shape acheivable.