Posted on 01/12/2014 4:56:26 AM PST by Islander7
Almost two years ago, Nunez decided he wanted to "be one of the best," so he picked up the phone and called his local U.S. Marine Corps recruitment office. After checking off various requirements, the recruiter asked Nunez about his weight.
The 18-year-old gulped. Always a heavy kid, Nunez crushed the scales at 338 pounds.
The recruiter told him he should probably consider a different career path.
(Excerpt) Read more at sunherald.com ...
The Army has taken significant steps towards that mindset, but it’s got a loooong way to go.
The Corps appreciates that kind of drive.
If you want it hard enough and work for it.
God bless him. (he’s going to need it.)
Dreamed I was at PI again just the other night,
how I made it I don’t know.
Oooorah!
Now the real work will begins! Say hello to Iron Mike if you’re heading east.
When I was in the Army back in the 60's that was how it was in basic.
The military is no place for weaklings, old people, and the disabled.
Do what we have always done until recently, get a competent skilled man, who is fit and healthy.
In this time of hundreds of millions of population and a tiny military, this is no time to pretend that we are so desperate that we have to hire chicks and obese people because we can’t find a healthy male version that is skilled at the work.
It was even more true in past wars, only recently, to create a new myth to accommodate women, did we start pretending that cooks and truck drivers don't ever fight or need to be strong.
Let me cite you are real example. This young man who had an army scholarship through an exotic science Master’s degree from MIT. Granted he was also physically fit, in fact far above par. And more than anything else, he wanted to go to Ranger School.
Denied. And they wouldn’t say why, just sent him up the chain, all the way to the Lieutenant General who was the branch commander. The LTG greeted him warmly, then told him that, for the amount of money the Army had already invested in him, it could have bought a platoon of Rangers.
“You are going to spend the next eight years wearing a lab coat, not a uniform.”
In the military, I got to meet a lot of “brains” like that, and though it was absolutely and officially forbidden, they did not exercise, or do PT tests, go on marches, do pushups or anything of the sort. Not their job. Never would be.
You then cited an example of a supply sergeant that was too fat to be a soldier.
The military is no place for weaklings, old people, and the disabled.
Do what we have always done until recently, get a competent skilled man, who is fit and healthy.
In this time of hundreds of millions of population and a tiny military, this is no time to pretend that we are so desperate that we have to hire chicks and obese people because we can’t find a healthy male version that is skilled at the work.
Now you went from regular GIs to scientists, and I presume doctors, we have always managed to accommodate scientists and doctors in the military.
We don't need to continue adjusting down for our NCOs and supply sergeants when they start failing their routine standards for continued employment.
We can handle scientists and doctors.
“The 79-year-old physician, who is possibly one of the oldest Soldiers on active duty, reported to Fort Benning’s CONUS Replacement Center March 20, prior to leaving for Hohenfels, Germany.”
“Avon Lake’s office has among its staff a doctor with a rather unique distinction. Philip Caravella, a longtime family physician currently practicing at the Avon Lake Family Health Center, could possibly be the oldest person to enlist in the United States Armed Forces at 64.”
“At a time in life when most people are looking forward to retirement, Lawrence B. Bone is heading off to war.
The 64-year-old orthopedic surgeon has joined the Army Reserve and leaves for Afghanistan in July.”
I watched my son's graduation from Army basic this summer. What they do now is very impressive, especially for family members who have never been exposed to our military. Thank you for service but enjoy the day. The looks on the faces of family members when they see their soldiers are always emotional and rewarding.
Well, we see things differently, that much is certain.
I’m a firm believer in mission accomplishment, based in militancy. If the mission is accomplished with pudgy Boy Scouts, I don’t care, they have succeeded. But if a mission fails, I also do not care if the individuals responsible are physically fit. They have failed the mission. They are failures.
That obese supply sergeant I mentioned not only prevented a disaster, he turned it into a great success, that *nobody* else was able to do. No doubt this LTG had a bounty of physically fit supply personnel, NCO’s and officers, available to him. But none of them could do what this supply sergeant could do. Not a one.
You want to lower standards, even for our existing NCOs when they start refusing to follow them.
We have 314 million people today, and a tiny military, but now suddenly we must lower the standards to maintain a skilled and competent military?
No we don’t.
What we have here is a failure to communicate, so I will leave it at that.
That is a silly thing to say since no one thinks it, and no one says it, and no one asks for it, and it isn't what we have been doing.
Don't call for lowering standards, especially for our NCOs who are supposed to be setting the example and leadership to maintain them.
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