23 May 2010

Upcoming Topic?


For a few months now, I've been lamenting the Army's reluctance to enforce height/weight and physical training standards. Bob on the FOB tackled this issue in a recent entry on Facebook.

I'm curious as to when we're going to start seeing investigative articles which focus on the fact that a.) passing the Army Physical Fitness Test is no longer a requirement to pass Basic Training and b.) height/weight standards and physical training standards are largely irrelevant if they're not enforced, as is the case in many organizations.


2 comments:

Joseph Sucher, MD FACS said...

This topic deserves lean commentary -> There is no excuse for morbid obesity in the US Military.

FaST Surgeon

Stormy said...

Starbuck,

I think the trigger for any enforcement of PT and height/weight standards will be the draw down of personnel from Iraq/Afghanistan. Following that, the current administration is going to discover that it can slash the Army to save a few dollars. As a result, the Army as a whole can be much more selective of who it recruits/retains--in other words, they can enforce standards without that nagging worry that it may not have enough bodies to meet requirements.

We're seeing it in the AF right now. After the big cuts in 2006 and 2007, we're seeing another round of Force Shaping and Reduction in Force boards. And on 1 July, we implement new, tougher PT standards and processes. Coincidence? I think not. The AF doesn't have to worry about meeting a high number and thus, it can focus on quality versus quantity.

Provided we don't have anything major facing the Army post-Iraq/Afghanistan, I'd imagine the Army will go the same route.

Stormy