Published: November 06, 2009 04:46 pm      

Unable to serve 11/07/09

Obesity and lack of knowledge disqualifying most recruits

A new report based on the examination of thousands of young American men and women seeking to enter the military should alarm Americans of all ages. Based on the report’s findings, we are raising a generation of dumb, flabby young people. In fact, they are so overweight and/or so poorly educated that three out of four of them are deemed ineligible for military service.

That, in turn, is having a negative impact on our military preparedness. That makes improving both the minds and physical bodies of young Americans a matter of national security.

In order to fill its recruitment goals, the U.S. military examines thousands of young men and women each year. That makes the military something of an expert on whether young Americans are physically able to serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard and whether they have the knowledge necessary to serve in the military. And if they lack the academic skills to serve in the military, they also are unlikely to be able to qualify for good-paying jobs in the private sector.

In fact, the title of the new report by Military Readiness, a nonprofit organization largely composed of retired military, does an excellent job of summarizing its findings in just a few words: “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve.”

The number are indeed grim: 75 percent of 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible to serve because they are overweight or undereducated and often both. One in four doesn’t have a high school diploma and one in three is too fat and out of shape. A report released last spring found that 48,000 potential recruits failed to make the weight requirement. In that same report, the military recruiting command predicted obesity soon would be the single biggest bar to youngsters wanting to serve in the military.

Military Readiness is urging the Department of Education to attack the problem of inadequate physical and mental fitness at the early childhood level and is also urging Congress to pass President Obama’s $1 billion Early Learning Challenge Fund.

It will be a tough challenge. Since more than one in four adults is considered obese by federal standards, the older generation is hardly leading by example. But if the Army and other services are supposed to help young men and women “be all that you can be,” then high schools and colleges are going to have to do a much better job of preparing both the minds and the bodies of young people.

That, in turn, is having a negative impact on our military preparedness. That makes improving both the minds and physical bodies of young Americans a matter of national security.

In order to fill its recruitment goals, the U.S. military examines thousands of young men and women each year. That makes the military something of an expert on whether young Americans are physically able to serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard and whether they have the knowledge necessary to serve in the military. And if they lack the academic skills to serve in the military, they also are unlikely to be able to qualify for good-paying jobs in the private sector.

In fact, the title of the new report by Military Readiness, a nonprofit organization largely composed of retired military, does an excellent job of summarizing its findings in just a few words: “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve.”

The number are indeed grim: 75 percent of 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible to serve because they are overweight or undereducated and often both. One in four doesn’t have a high school diploma and one in three is too fat and out of shape. A report released last spring found that 48,000 potential recruits failed to make the weight requirement. In that same report, the military recruiting command predicted obesity soon would be the single biggest bar to youngsters wanting to serve in the military.

Military Readiness is urging the Department of Education to attack the problem of inadequate physical and mental fitness at the early childhood level and is also urging Congress to pass President Obama’s $1 billion Early Learning Challenge Fund.

It will be a tough challenge. Since more than one in four adults is considered obese by federal standards, the older generation is hardly leading by example. But if the Army and other services are supposed to help young men and women “be all that you can be,” then high schools and colleges are going to have to do a much better job of preparing both the minds and the bodies of young people.