Make fat, not war (spam on subject)

[fable]

It's this. Or as Duck of Minerva states,

Turns out 35% of young Americans between the ages of 18-24 are unfit to serve in the military because they're too fat, up from 6% 20 years ago...Perhaps the US government should declare a global war on cholesterol in the name of national security.

I presume this is true, though to a lesser extent, of the armed forces in many other nations, such as the UK, Germany, Italy, and that den of strident nefarious secretive militancy known as Sweden. After all, fast food is quickly making the world less healthy. Who knows, but that we won't reach a point where armies puff as they approach one another, then keel over before they can get a round off? Will our greatest warriors be only those twigs who play shooters, and think this means they're macho? Will they face off against the last healthy man in the world, Arnuld?

So many deep, philosophical permutations to consider.

[endboss]

Quite frankly I'm getting tired of your spam threads, fable.

Who knows, but that we won't reach a point where armies puff as they approach one another, then keel over before they can get a round off?

I don't think so. Ever gotten all the food items in Metal Slug?

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

I was just assuming they'd switch over to videogame wars using online first-person shooters (or just use AI/human-controlled robots, but that's already happening so it's kinda passe). Jack Thompson says they're murder simulators after all, so we've got armies of pudgy potentiallytrained killers just waiting to be harvested.
We all know the latest Iraq war was sponsored by ExxonMobil and co, in the interests of competition surely it's time Doritos, Pizza Hut and Mountain Dew had a turn at the disaster capitalism trough?

On a real-life note, my not-quite-brother-in-law is in the Reserves and he's too pudgy for duty so at least we're all in the same overcrowded sinking boat here.

[QuenGalad]

Quite frankly I'm getting tired of your spam threads, fable.

Don't post in them, then.

Actually I wanted to start a thread on similar matter... There was this shooting at an american military base - forgot the name at the moment - covered extensively in our newspapers, with quite a lot of pictures, and practically all the soldiers were, um... quite rounded, shall i say?

Reminds me of Tyrone The Getaway Driver from The Snatch movie.

On the other hand, i'm not in huge favor of military service in general. Soldiers in poland are usually guys dreaming of becoming a "real man" in the army, which invariably means boozing and violence. I went on a couple of dates with such a guy once. He was very attractive and quite nice, but once he started to feel comfortable and just say what he liked, i litteraly freaked out.

[endboss]

Don't post in them, then.

I was joking!

There needs to be some system where I can convey I'm joking or being sarcastic here that doesn't require the use of smileys, which seem more to convey silliness.

Actually I wanted to start a thread on similar matter... There was this shooting at an american military base - forgot the name at the moment - covered extensively in our newspapers, with quite a lot of pictures, and practically all the soldiers were, um... quite rounded, shall i say?

Fort Hood? Some Islamic psychiatrist (an oxymoron if there ever was one) shot up a couple dozen people, killing around 13. I don't think they've found his motivation yet.

[QuenGalad]

I was joking!

There needs to be some system where I can convey I'm joking or being sarcastic here that doesn't require the use of smileys, which seem more to convey silliness.

Sorry about misunderstanding you, then.

I sort of understand you don't love smileys. They were invented for a reason, though, precisely for the fact that when we can only see the text, we can't always understand its subtle elements. Like irony or humour.

Yes, it was about fort Hood, but like i said, the fact that got my attention most was that practically all the soldiers on the pictures were, well, fat. For a moment i actually thought it was some hospital or a fitness camp...Perhaps the paper chose them this way, but i don't think so.

[endboss]

It's not your fault. Everyone misunderstands me. I even got a warning for it! It's my fault for not conveying my message better.

I read about Fort Hood and didn't really see any of the pictures. I'll have to check that out. I thought that the army (and the marines, air force, etc) had to go through rigorous training and had to keep it up throughout their duty in case, you know, they had to go out and do their job and protect the nation.

[fable]

It's not your fault. Everyone misunderstands me. I even got a warning for it! It's my fault for not conveying my message better.

No, you didn't get a warning for it. You were expressly told as much at the time. Check that PM.

Since you won't use emoticons, consider using behavior in a third person narrative. I mean, it's your choice, but really, he said with a raised eyebrow, what can you expect?

By the way--and this is for everybody, not just for those who hate emoticons--what do the armed forces look like in other nations? Has anyone taken a good look at the Italians? I'm curious: Southern Italian cooking is not exactly intended to turn out svelte models. (Though I won't hear a bad word about Sophia Loren.) And I'm thinking the modern UK craze for curries isn't probably producing the slim, trim look anymore, either.

[endboss]

No, you didn't get a warning for it. You were expressly told as much at the time. Check that PM.

Since you won't use emoticons, consider using behavior in a third person narrative. I mean, it's your choice, but really, he said with a raised eyebrow, what can you expect?

By the way--and this is for everybody, not just for those who hate emoticons--what do the armed forces look like in other nations? Has anyone taken a good look at the Italians? I'm curious: Southern Italian cooking is not exactly intended to turn out svelte models. (Though I won't hear a bad word about Sophia Loren.) And I'm thinking the modern UK craze for curries isn't probably producing the slim, trim look anymore, either.

In my profile, it says I have a warning :laugh: Not that it matters much, I was just using the warning as an example to make my point.

[Maharlika]

Don't bother asking how our armed forces are... but then again... ...

I'll bite.

I don't think my country would have problems getting recruits who are not fat but are fit and trim.

Our issue for them is respectable funding and ACTUAL ACQUISITION of the necessary logistics.

Can't say the same about our police force where pot-bellied policemen being the norm is the standing joke round here.

Not fit at all to run after the faster and more agile criminals. By the time they try to take aim, the criminals have already gotten away. :laugh:

[fable]

In my profile, it says I have a warning :laugh: Not that it matters much, I was just using the warning as an example to make my point.

You don't--it regularly reports that wrong. And only infractions count towards anything, anyway.

Careful--you used emoticons! That can have a serious impact on your heart healthiness.

Can't say the same about our police force where pot-bellied policemen being the norm is the standing joke round here.

And isn't that exactly the stereotype, Mah? We think of UK soldiers, for example, and we see young, trim men and women. But bobbies? Out of breath, out of shape, rather dull: "What's all this, then?" At least, that's the stereotype.

[fable]

Another blog on more or less the same subject, with a few different statistics that look even less attractive.

Maybe this is all some giant Cheney-esque plot to get out of military service, much like the recent revered US vice president did. Only I don't think it was obesity that got him his deferment, and of course, the criminal acts were still at the time part of his glorious future.

[Chanak]

Make lunch, not war.

I recall the days when I wore the Government-issue salad suit, way back before iphones and Facebook ever sunk their parasitic hooks into the mushy, vulnerable minds of a lethargic public. I stepped upon the scale at the military processing center in Atlanta, Georgia and watched as it settled at 156 pounds (approx. 71kg). I was the tender age of 19 back then. At 6'1" (1.85m) I was lean and mean.

4 years later, I stood on the scale in the doctor's office for my exit physical. I tipped the scale at 165 pounds (75kg). Not bad...I was well within the height/weight standard the entire time I was in. I got to eat my cake with no grief. Still lean and mean.

These days are a wee bit different. 40 approacheth...and the scale mocks me. The last time I stood on it, it registered about 215 pounds (98kg).

I suppose I am a bit shocked at that high obesity figure, fable. If the military is anything like it used to be, though...rotund recruits are fed through a wee bit of hell prior to Basic Training in order to meet weight standards. There was a guy like that in my Basic Training platoon. He was constantly running in place and doing push-ups. His name was Osbourne. No, not Ozzy.

EDIT: I meant to clarify that as far as I know, you can enlist in the US military and not meet the weight standard. You cannot, however, graduate from Basic Training (different name for other services, but same initial training period) until you meet that standard. That leaves the Training Cadre plenty of time to smoke you, as my old Senior Drill Sergeant used to say, like a cheap cigar.

[fable]

Make lunch, not war.

And eat tandoor, not bullets. I'm with you, brother.

I suppose I am a bit shocked at that high obesity figure, fable. If the military is anything like it used to be, though...rotund recruits are fed through a wee bit of hell prior to Basic Training in order to meet weight standards. There was a guy like that in my Basic Training platoon. He was constantly running in place and doing push-ups. His name was Osbourne. No, not Ozzy.

EDIT: I meant to clarify that as far as I know, you can enlist in the US military and not meet the weight standard. You cannot, however, graduate from Basic Training (different name for other services, but same initial training period) until you meet that standard. That leaves the Training Cadre plenty of time to smoke you, as my old Senior Drill Sergeant used to say, like a cheap cigar.

Leaves me wondering why these standards are not being enforced. Is the military willing to settle for less, given the sheer number of recruits required to feed our efforts to replay Napoleon's Russian experience over and over? Has being physically fit become less important in the mechanized modern corps than it used it to be? Is the military becoming demoralized over the war, and the numbers of neo-Nazis and Pentacostal zealots that have joined up?

[Chanak]

Leaves me wondering why these standards are not being enforced. Is the military willing to settle for less, given the sheer number of recruits required to feed our efforts to replay Napoleon's Russian experience over and over? Has being physically fit become less important in the mechanized modern corps than it used it to be? Is the military becoming demoralized over the war, and the numbers of neo-Nazis and Pentacostal zealots that have joined up?

I believe the current recruitment figures reflects the state of desperation the U.S. Armed forces are currently in. In times of relative calm, they can afford to raise the bar. However, during the time of hot zones that suck up American lives and money such as Iraq and Afghanistan, they have little choice but to lower standards and issue more fitness waivers.

It's all a numbers game, fable. Vietnam saw the birth of the numbers game in military logistics and planning. Command is required to supply X boots on the ground or heads attached to their precious careers will roll. Never mind proper training and indoctrination. It's a body to fill a humvee seat. A finger to pull a trigger.

Physical fitness can spell the difference between life and death in the combat zone. Modern tactics don't lessen the need for that. People sit watching their monitors as they play Ghost Recon never realizing how exhausting it actually is to execute adrenaline-powered aerobics in full combat dress. You wouldn't believe how much a non-elite soldier is required to carry at all times. Step that up a notch when you are talking about a SoCOM soldier like a Ranger or Delta force operative. Move too sluggishly and you can be the reason why lives are lost...and not just your own.

The lowering of standards always has a detrimental effect on morale. The repercussions reverberate all along the chain of command.

EDIT: 20 years ago, the US military took a vastly different stand on fitness and weight standards. A good example: the only trainees in my Basic Training platoon who were permitted to eat cake in the Mess Hall were those who were well within the height/weight guidelines. We only had 4 trainees to whom cake was taboo. We had about 40 in the platoon, so that's only 10%. This might seem silly to most reading this, but I will tell you that the military took it very seriously. Seriously enough to make your life a living hell if you decided to have cake when you weren't supposed to. That's what happened to one guy. He was made to stand in front of the platoon while each one of us came forward and placed our M-16s into his arms. He had to do this 5 times a day for a week. Needless to say, he would collapse under the weight pretty swiftly. They would make him get back up and go through it all again until eventually one of the Drill Sergeants felt sorry for him and had him stop.