Retired US Generals: Americans Too Fat and Unfit to Fight in the Military

A new report issued by a group of retired generals warns that high obesity rates and levels of unfitness among Minnesota’s younger residents has become an issue of national security, and needs to be urgently addressed by the state’s community.

The title of the report says it all – “Too Fat, Frail and Out of Breath to Fight.” According to the findings, about one in three Americans is too overweight to serve in the military. In Minnesota alone, the same applies to about 69% of the state’s young adults.  An additional one in ten of the state’s youth suffer from asthma, which automatically disqualifies them from joining military service.

Suck it out: Chubby military personnel are getting liposuction to pass Pentagon’s body fat test

A small minority of people who are an exception to the rule are being exploited to degrade military standards, thus killing it from within. This is one of many cases that are overly exaggerated and used to weaken the normal order of things, such as the level of sexual harrassment. The level of expertise these ‘fitness experts’ posess might also want to be called into question.

• Military personnel are getting liposuction to pass the Pentagon’s body fat test
• The Defense Department’s method of estimating body fat is considered unfair because it knocks out personnel with muscular builds
  
• Fitness experts claim the military’s fitness standards are outdated and don’t reflect that Americans are bigger
• Personnel can get kicked out of the military if they don’t pass tests
• The number of Army soldiers booted for being overweight has jumped tenfold in the past five years

‘They come in panicked about being kicked out or getting a demerit that will hurt their chances at a promotion,’ said the Rockville, Md., surgeon.

Some service members say they have no other choice because the Defense Department’s method of estimating body fat is weeding out not just flabby physiques but bulkier, muscular builds.