Pentagon: A Third of U.S. Youth Too Fat, Sickly to Serve in the Military, Most of the Rest Are Too Dumb or Have Used Too Many Drugs

November 5th, 2009

Oh well, they’re not too fat and sickly to go to private prisons. And this is sure to result in much more funding for the terminator robots. Good news all around for the criminals who run the show.

Via: USA Today:

More than a third of American youth of military age are unfit for service, mainly because they are too fat or sickly, the Army Times reports, quoting the latest Pentagon figures.

Most of the rest are too dumb or have used too many drugs to qualify, the study shows.

The report says 35% of the 31 million Americans aged 17 to 24 are unqualified because of physical and medical issues.

“The major component of this is obesity,” Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, tells the Times. “We have an obesity crisis in the country. There’s no question about it.”

He also said young people, by and large, can’t do push-ups.

“And they can’t do pull-ups,” Gilroy says. ” And they can’t run.”

The Times says the Pentagon gets its data from the Centers for Disease Control, which has found that the percentage of youth 18 to 34 who are considered obese has jumped from 6% in 1987 to 23% now.

Here’s the Pentagon’s breakdown of the ineligible population, according to the Times:

* Medical/physical problems, 35%.
* Illegal drug use, 18%.
* Mental Category V (the lowest 10% of the population), 9%.
* Too many dependents under age 18, 6%.
* Criminal record, 5%.

Update at 1:06 p.m. ET: The Times reports that Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a group of retired military officers will issue a report on Thursday warning that the situation is so dire it amounts to a threat to national security.

That study will show that when all factors are considered, 75% of military-age youth are not eligible to serve.

4 Responses to “Pentagon: A Third of U.S. Youth Too Fat, Sickly to Serve in the Military, Most of the Rest Are Too Dumb or Have Used Too Many Drugs”

  1. Larry Glick says:

    Young Americans know intuitively and from history that another draft is coming. Why should they keep themselves fit to become cannon fodder for still more of American’s eternal “fights for freedom?” How many of them want to go to Iraq to kill unarmed Iraqi farmers or to Afghanistan to kill attendees at wedding parties? Unlike Vietnam, we have not yet reached the point of “fragging” arrogant mind-droned 2nd Lieutenants. But when they run out of 18 year old volunteer “Warriors on Terror,” things will change as soon as the draft begins.

  2. Zuma says:

    this is why we now contract out.
    Xe et al…

    or is that Xenu?

  3. AHuxley says:

    City Year will get them back into shape.

    http://www.popmodal.com/video/2600/Obama-s-Militaristic-Youth-Corp-Commercial

    A year of marching, helpful outdoor activities, good food and a little extra education to round out their years of education.
    Waivers exist for the recreation drug experimentation.

    If all else fails, find more mercs with a path to citizenship if they stay.

    As for the draft, the West watched the Falklands war and loved it. Smart people with good weapons and training on the ground. Years of study where needed to find out if you shot a “face” in training, it transfers well to war.

    http://www.killology.com/on_combat_ch2.htm

    “If you have served in the military since 1990, you have seen a transition in training. It took only the implementation of a plain, man-shaped “E-type” silhouette during the Vietnam era to dramatically improve the firing rate of our troops. But now we use a pop-up target that is a three-dimensional image of an enemy soldier. The target has a face, it wears a helmet and it is depicted holding a rifle. It is many times more realistic than the old green silhouettes, making it much easier for soldiers to transfer what they learn to reality. ”

    I would see a draft for drs, support staff with stop loss skills.

    City Year will fill the gaps in 2-5 years. Scouts and girl guides will be good feeder organisations.

  4. williamspd says:

    ‘Too dumb’ to serve in the US military is a pretty damning indictment.

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