Not Fat, Just Big-Boned

Army recruiting has been benefiting from the waiver program that permits overweight enlistees to Be A Man! Enlist!

"We support any service who comes up with a scientifically defensible way of expanding the market [of recruits]," says Curtis Gilroy, director of accessions policy for the Pentagon. Such waivers had been studied for years but the program wasn't implemented until fiscal 2007, when it admitted about 1,500 individuals through the program (just a small slice of about 80,000 recruits). Recruits must pass a special battery of tests, including a "step test," and do a number of push-ups to demonstrate their physical abilities. If they pass and are enlisted, they have a year to comply with the Army's physical requirements, measured by "body mass index," a formula that estimates body fat based on weight and height.

OYE Comment: We do thank those that were admitted through this particular waiver program for stepping up, and we wish them success in the Army, but let's be honest here; if The Army wasn't having difficulty recruiting this program would never have been instituted. On the bright side it does take away one of the many excuses from Rob Port.

Looks like Private Pyle was born 2 generations too late.....