America Becoming Too Fat, Dumb to Protect Itself?
According to an independent report released today, despite the U.S. armed forces achieving their most successful recruiting year in decades in FY09, roughly three-quarters of current potential recruits are ineligible for service. As reported by The Washington Post, the report, published by D.C.-based nonprofit Mission: Readiness, the most common reasons for individuals being disqualified from service are obesity and lack of education. Additionally, factors such as criminal records and drug use are exacerbating what many observers see as a potentially crippling challenge to U.S. national defense.
“We are very concerned,” said Maj. Gen. James A. Kelley, USA (Ret.) a member of Mission: Readiness, in the Post report. “We do have the greatest military in the world—we have the greatest planes, the greatest tanks, the greatest ships—but the key goal is having great people. Right now, we’re attracting very highly-qualified folks, but that could change over time.”
According to the report, “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve,” nearly one in three young Americans is too overweight to join the military, one in 10 has a disqualifying criminal record, and one in four lacks a high-school diploma, which, though not strictly rendering a recruit ineligible for service, does prove problematic for individuals attempting to pass the military’s entrance exam.
“The United States military must continue to insist on rigorous eligibility standards because it needs competent, healthy and educated individuals to staff the world’s most professional and technologically advanced military,” reads the report’s introduction. “The best aircraft, ships and satellite-guided weaponry alone will not be enough to keep our country strong. America’s armed forces also need highly capable, law-abiding, and physically fit recruits.”
