Army Focuses On Getting Rid of Overweight Troops
If you are someone who is borderline on the tape test the Army is currently focusing on getting rid of you regardless of how fit you are:
Faced with a $37 billion budget shortfall and a significant reduction in troops, the Army is “trimming the fat” by reinstating a program that sends home soldiers who fail to meet body-fat standards, Fort Gordon officials said this week.
The Pentagon revised its body-fat regulations last month in an attempt to “return to the basics” and build a “leaner and meaner force” that includes only soldiers in peak physical condition, said Master Sgt. Christopher Wallace, the training coordinator for the Signal Corps’ Regimental Noncommissioned Officer Academy.
Though height and weight requirements remain unchanged, the Body Composition Program gives commanders the power to flag overweight soldiers and require them to see a dietician, develop an action plan and go through monthly assessments.
The Army was more lenient when soldiers were needed in Afghanistan and Iraq, Wallace said, and overseas command stations did not provide adequate space for troops to exercise.
Now, the Army wants “top-notch recruits who meet and beat the standard, instead of just barely making it,” Wallace said.
First Sgt. Roberto Berry, the head of the NCO Academy at Fort Gordon, said the Army began phasing in changes in November. Looming ahead were sequestration, which left a $37 billion hole in the Defense Department’s budget, and news that troop levels would be cut by 80,000 soldiers by the end of fiscal year 2017. [The Augusta Chronicle]
You can read more at the link.
