One couldn’t help but notice that some of the secret service agents who whisked away Donald Trump from a podium targeted for violence were nowhere near peak fitness. This observation leads to another: While wonkiness in the U.S. Department of Defense under the Biden Administration is a major concern to anyone who understands the dangers of military unpreparedness, another development is equally compelling: our flabby military.
Do you recall the barrage of television advertisements emanating from the U.S. Department of Defense over many years? From 1976 to 1986, the U.S. Navy capitalized on the phrase, “Navy, it's not just a job; it's an adventure.” Starting in 1980, the U.S. Army proudly proclaimed, “Be all that you can be,” and milked the theme for 20 years. Early in 2023, they revived it, at least temporarily, to bolster sluggish recruiting.
The Marine Corps has forever touted the slogan, "The Few. The Proud. The Marines," and on and on it goes. Yet, if accurate headlines were splashed across The New York Times, the state of today's military would prompt shock.
No Charging Up San Juan Hill
Currently, more than two out of three troops are classified as overweight or obese. How can someone in the U.S. military be overweight, let alone obese? Are there no rules about fitness and combat readiness? Are there no programs to keep people in shape commensurate with their service in the U.S. Armed Forces?
The American Security Project, an organization based in Washington, D.C., determined the body mass index (BMI) of various U.S. troops. While BMI measurements have some limitations, the findings were astounding: 68% of our military personnel were deemed to be overweight or obese.
This development didn't happen in the last year or two; it's been ongoing for over a decade. The sad fact is that the number of flabby troops has doubled since Obama’s re-election and shows no signs of slowing down.
A Dire Threat from Within
The American Security Project’s report emphasizes that their findings represent a “dire threat” to our military preparedness. As one official said, “To ensure the long-term strength and operability of the armed forces, services must decisively and cohesively address obesity within ranks, maintain strong body composition standards, and bring healthy policies in line with evidence-based recommendations.” Rather strong language.
The report went on: “Identifying, diagnosing, and treating obesity [among] soldiers at the front lines of our national defense may ultimately determine the long-term survival of the force. It may not be easy, but it is long overdue.”
Concurrently, the U.S. military has long maintained its own standards of fitness for recruits. As it turns out, obesity is the number one disqualifier for military applicants. The rationale is: if you're unable to meet standards as a young recruit, how will you ever catch up with them and maintain them for the long run?
No Salvation in Sight
The U.S. Army and the Department of Defense, in general, face a tough road ahead. Less than 25% of potential recruits between the ages of 17 and 24 can meet the physical or academic requirements necessary to serve. In testimony before Congress last April, top Pentagon officials said that the Navy, Air Force, and Army would be unable to achieve their enlistment goals for the coming year. The Navy will fall short by 7,450 recruits, the Army by 15,000, and the Air Force by 2,700.
In light of these revelations, BMI figures will now be a prominent issue in recruiting and retaining men and women to serve in our armed forces. The American Security Project report emphasized that “by adequately screening for obesity, military services can develop proactive measures to address obesity.”
In essence, to meet its recruitment targets our military must tackle what has become a nationwide, culturally pervasive problem. And that is nothing short of a monumental task. Think about it, how does the U.S. military address a problem that has been brewing for decades, impacts every aspect of our culture, and yields a generation whose collective weight gain is unprecedented in our nation's history?
A Generation of Unhardy Americans
The American Medical Association suggests that the Army, Navy, and other branches adopt a “holistic approach” to recruiting. This involves capturing BMI data and other appropriate risk measures such as body composition, visceral fat, waist circumference, metabolic, and genetic factors.
Okay, sure, but wouldn't life be easier for our military brass and safer for our country if we simply could draw upon a generation of fit, hardy Americans ready to serve in the Armed Forces? I guess that's part of a bygone era.