Posted on 11/04/2009 4:41:22 PM PST by Route797
More than one-third of Americans ages 17-24 are unqualified for military service because of physical and medical issues, U.S. military officials said.
Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon's director of accessions, said the United States has "an obesity crisis."
"There's no question about it," Gilroy told the Navy Times. "Kids are just not able to do push-ups, and they can't do pull-ups. And they can't run."
The Pentagon figures -- 35 percent of the roughly 31.2 million Americans ages 17-24 are ineligible for military service -- are drawn from data from the Centers for Disease Control. In a study scheduled to be released Thursday in Washington, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and a group of retired military officers say young Americans' lack of overall fitness for military duty is a national security threat, the Navy Times reported.
The report, drawing on Pentagon data, says 75 percent of the nation's 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for service for a variety of reasons, including:
-- 35 percent ineligible for medical/physical problems.
-- 18 percent ineligible for illegal drug use.
-- 9 percent ineligible for mental problems.
-- 18 percent have too many dependents.
-- 5 percent have a criminal record.
I was a kid in the 1970s, even tehn, looking back, Phys ed was a joke. Too muck time wasted on games, like softball, which is mostly standing around. Would have been better to go through 20 minutes of calisthenics, then back to class.
I’m a college professor and an AF veteran. Some of the kids I see would have to go to pre training before Basic. I think if they were just thrown into Basic, quite a few would just keel over or worse. You’d never hear the end of it on MSNBC.
Obviously this is a lame attempt by the CDC to drive some oddball agenda.
Yawn, old news recycled!!! Sensational, NOT!!!
“18 percent have too many dependents.”
...teenage boys knocking up teenage girls.
Kids can't play outside, they can't walk to school, they have to come home in a carpool and run inside 'cause mom and dad (or mostly mom) are at work and then lock their bums inside until the next morning where they do it all again.
No pushups, situps or pullups because they might hurt themselves (or esteem).
I don't want to feel the country is screwed... but sometimes I think we didn't fight back soon enough. Mmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmmm
In 1940-1944, the rejection rate for draftees was around the low 30 pct area. But these were people who were ordered to report right off the street and off the farm to examining stations for possible service, not people who have taken it upon themselves to seek out a recruiter like the sample above. What is the state of health of the cohort that does not attempt enlistment?
OMG !!!!!!
I hope someone in the military can answer this. Why is Attention Deficit Disorder an automatic no for the military? Alot of people are prescribed it just because of homework issues and all that.
Hmm...a cohort of 20 million are eligible, it’s an all-volunteer force and there are waiting lists at recruiting centers. I’ll take it.
THey can’t if they do they get in biggg trouble my cousin is head of troops he told me that
My son-in-law, die hard sergeant, in 9 years now, he said, it’s like babysitting. The recruits are infants and bitch about everything, and have a pass to opt out. They’re coddled the entire way. But, facing an enemy ...... it’s bad, be very worried. They older guys (even 3-4 years ago), they’re OK. The newbies, it’s bad, worse than we’ve been lead to believe. This is one reason why so many are reenlisting. They love our country and serve it to defend freedom. There are many who are questioning Obama, and most who reenlist are stating, I’m in it for my country, I can’t leave them now.
I think it's the Ritalin, not the ADD, that's the problem. IIRC, long term use of Ritalin prevents individuals from joining the military. It seems to cause permanent, physical changes in the brain, especially if taken during the formative years.
And of that 65%, only 12% show any interest in serving.
There's a more indepth article at the Navy Times site. I tried to post it yesterday but it was removed due to being a Gannett publication which isn't allowed here for copyright reasons.
I remember when I was in ROTC I was told I could not be in the Chemical Corps because it was reclassified as a Combat Support and my eye sight precluded me. After commission I ended up in the Ordnance Corps (Service Support) and got assigned to a Reserve Infantry Training Division. When I became the Mobilization Officer for my Battalion, I got a chance to look at our mobilization plan for war. If the war with the Soviet Union got really bad, all officers in the Basic Training Companies, regardless of branch will become 11B’s (ie infantry) and the entire company of trainees upon completion of training (which can be abbreviated to two weeks) will become an infantry replacement unit for lost units. Things get bad, everyone regardless of eyesight, weight and age is infantry.
Everything and I mean everything is waiverable. In times of need, prior drug use, tattoos, even felonies can be waived. I enlisted in the Navy with a whole stack of waivers. Face it, choir boys often aren't interested in enlisting. Right now though, with the economy the way it is, the military can tighten up their standards and turn more people away.
“physical problems” like being too fat? That can be fixed fairly quick. Illegal drug use can be stopped and is hard to do with a 24/7 supervisor.
Maybe those very motivated kids could enter a program where they get trained to fitness, but not paid beyond “three hots and a flop” and maybe some other payback requirements.
WTF are “homework issues”?
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