Only 25 percent of those between the ages of 17 and 24 are eligible to enroll in the military, according to a Pentagon report.The biggest culprit is obesity, which is the major reason 35 percent of all 17-to-24 year olds can't meet the military's medical and physical requirements. Illegal drug use knocks out another 18 percent; 9 percent don't have a high-enough IQ for enrollment; 6 percent have too many dependents; and 5 percent have a criminal record.
To deal with this shrinking pool of potential recruits, the military has increased the number of waivers given for asthma, past marijuana use and too many dependents.
In happier news, 100 percent of America's youth remain eligible to play "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2."
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Saturday 07 November
By Takahashi
That's pretty sad, but I believe it.
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Saturday 07 November
By BB
A large percent of our youth may not be fit for the military but 100% of the army does not deserve to be trusted with our youth. Our troops are being abused like never before in history. Multiple deployments are driving them nuts. Extraordinarily large numbers return with PTSD. Moral is horrible. They feel like they will never get out of the military for they keep being sent back. PTSD is not a mild illness. It is very difficult to cure, though the government gives them drugs and pretends it is a cure. The majority with PTSD will not recover and it is a problem that will ruin your life. The military is absurdly insensitive to the problems of our troops and trys to intimidate them into not going to the doctor for mental problems. The miltary has less shrinks now than they used to have which more or less proves that they don't care. One soldier that got on national media and caled the PTSD victims weak later got it himself for it can show up years later. The high rate of civilians being killed is causeing our trops a lot of guilt and adding to their mental stress. Bush tried to reduce the VA bill in a major way proving that the government does not care about our vets. They even tried to make the wounded vets pay for their own treatment though thank god they failed. There have been incidents where troops were not given the equpment to keep them safe and in at least one case a contractor tried to make the troops pay for meals out of their pocket even though the government was already paying the contractor for the meals. The increasing rate of suicide proves that the military just does not care. The military is acting as if denial is problem solving. wondering if the war is really about oil and pipe lines takes a toll on moral. Not giveing anyone an exist strategy makes the future of the troops uncertian. Our government is abusing our troops and so is the VA. A youth that studies what he is getting into would not want to sign up and the army does not deserve voulenteers if they are going to abuse them this way. We need a national campaign to bring awareness of these problems.
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Sunday 08 November
By useetrading
U.S. military-age youth are increasingly unfit to serve — mostly because they’re in such lousy shape.
According to the latest Pentagon figures, a full 35 percent, or more than one-third, of the roughly 31.2 million Americans aged 17 to 24 are unqualified for military service because of physical and medical issues. And, said Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, “the major component of this is obesity. We have an obesity crisis in the country. There’s no question about it.”
The Pentagon draws its data from the Centers for Disease Control, which regularly tracks obesity. The steadily rising trend is not good news for military recruiters, despite their recent successes, nor for the overall health of the U.S. population.
In 1987, according to the CDC, a mere 6 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds, or about 1 out of 20, were obese. In 2008, 22 years later, 23 percent of that age group — almost 1 out of 4 — was considered to be obese.
The CDC measures obesity by body mass index, a figure calculated from height and weight that is considered a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people. According to the CDC, the body mass index for a man standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds is 21.8; the normal range lies between 18.5 and 24.9. Below that range is considered underweight; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. A person with a body mass index of 30 or greater is considered to be obese.
Obese individuals are at increased risk for a number of diseases and health conditions, including hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, some cancers and other problems, according to the CDC. In addition to those concerns, the military rejects obese recruits in part because so much extra weight likely couldn’t be dropped during the course of basic training — even if they could get through the entire program.
“Kids are just not able to do push-ups,” Gilroy said. “And they can’t do pull-ups. And they can’t run.”
The reasons are “almost common knowledge, Gilroy said — what he called “the couch potato syndrome” and the widespread elimination of scholastic physical fitness programs.
Mission: Readiness
In a study being released Thursday in Washington, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a group of retired military officers led by former Army Gen. Wesley Clark will sound the alarm bells and call young Americans’ relative lack of overall fitness for military duty a national security threat. The group, Mission: Readiness, will release a report that draws on Pentagon data showing that 75 percent of the nation’s 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for service for a variety of reasons.
Put another way, only 4.7 million of the 31.2 million 17- to 24-year-olds in a 2007 survey are eligible to enlist, according to a periodic survey commissioned by the Pentagon. This group includes those who have scored in the top four categories on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, or AQFT; eligible college graduates; and qualified college students.
According to the Pentagon, the ineligible population breaks down this way:
•Medical/physical problems, 35 percent.
•Illegal drug use, 18 percent.
•Mental Category V (the lowest 10 percent of the population), 9 percent.
•Too many dependents under age 18, 6 percent.
•Criminal record, 5 percent.
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