Army looking for a few good men, but American kids are too fat

Only 3 out of 10 young people age 17-to-24 qualify for military service. I didn't think the Army's physical standards were ever all that tough, but then again, I'm pretty active and have been involved in some physical activity since I was 13.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/03/eveningnews/main4233363.shtml?source=search_story

check out the responses at the end of the story.

This is because we have it SO good in our country that people can just sit around eat, play video games and become Liberal hippy Vaginas.

solid.

 

Liberal Hippy Vaginas = the name of the punk rock band I'm forming, umm, now.

 

I'll buy your first album. Right after I buy Van Atta High's first album.

 

I'd like to see a breakdown of the ineligible folks, in terms of why they're ineligible. The story includes this paragraph:

"Put it another way: Only three out of 10 young people between the ages of 17 and 24 even qualify to serve in the Army, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports. The rest are ineligible either because they didn’t graduate from high school, have a police record or are not physically fit."

But it focuses mostly on gym class and physical fitness. The headline makes it sound like 7 of 10 kids are too fat to serve, when there are other factors, and those disqualifying factors might also overlap. Kind of a silly surface-skimming story.

And yes, Liberal Hippy (Hippie?) Vaginas is an awesome band name.

 

In the video, (at least the 3 minute job during the news) there was a cut of an army guy saying there is a kid that drops out of HS every 46 seconds. I find that astonishing. How can that even be an option in today's day? You think you can get through life without a diploma?

 

Well, dealing drugs is always an option.

 

You could get a newspaper job.

 

Think I'll stick with slangin' on the corner. More job security.

 

"Security" is not a word that's too often associated with slangin' on the corner.

 

"Physically fit" doesn't necessarily mean in shape. I'm not eligible to serve in the armed forces because I have moderate asthma that needs daily steroid inhalers. My father wasn't eligible to serve in Vietnam, had he been drafted, because of asthma and a ripped up knee. Any diabetic (Type 1 or Type 2) is ineligible. ADHD and dyslexia make you ineligible, as does sleepwalking after age 13. Heck, seasonal allergies that can't be controlled by medication make you ineligible.

A local Air Force vet was after me to enlist in one of the intelligence branches until she found out I was asthmatic.

A full list of conditions that disqualify people from enlisting is here: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r40_501.pdf

I think my favorite is 2-14, b., (5). "History of penis amputation is disqualifying."

 

Yep. Fat kids all over the Army. Myself included.

 

But you pass your PT tests, right?