MILITARY REASSESSING FITNESS LEVELS

For the first time in 14 years, the military is rewriting its body composition standards and the methods used to determine whether troops are too fat to serve. The review comes amid rising concern about obesity. Among civilians, it is shrinking the pool of qualified prospective recruits. And in the active-duty force, a rising number of overweight troops poses risks to readiness and health care costs. The current policy requires service members to maintain body fat levels below a key threshold – 26 percent for men and 36 percent for women. Troops who fail to pass the test are enrolled in remedial fitness programs that can stigmatize or even end a military career. Today, new research and technology is available, enabling the military’s health experts to reassess the value, practicality and fairness of those rules. The objective now is to identify and leverage the best, most financially feasible way to distinguish between troops who are truly unhealthy and those who have nontraditional body types but are otherwise fit.
* America has always prided itself on having the fittest drone pilots in the world.
* “Obese” is a “nontraditional body type”? Not any more it isn’t.
* You know you have a weight problem when the treads of the tanks are going around, but the tank isn’t moving.
* It’s really easy to recognize 26% percent body fat. It’s just the beginning of man boobs.
* It’s about time. The Navy is about to change its theme song from “Anchors Aweigh” to “Anchors Are We”.
* Too fat to serve? That’s not exactly the fighting slogan we were looking for.
* Hey, at least the mess hall will be well defended.
* You know it’s bad when your arm is too fat to salute.
* These guys don’t want to serve on a submarine. They want someone to serve them a submarine sandwich.