U.S. Army Weeds Out Fat Soldiers
Well, this is actually rather shocking. We know of the fat stereotype for cops, stopping in at the donut shop when they do not need to. But, the US Army is under intense pressure because of the budget to weed out and dismiss more soldiers to thin out the ranks. In the old days (1990s) they could reduce ranks for being homosexual, taking drugs, being crazy. Today, if you are fat and obese, you are a contender to be ousted.
Between 1998-2010, the number of active duty soldiers that were obese tripled. That is 5% or 86,000 troops classified as obese. This prompted the weeding out to begin when a soldier was deemed obese and fat. So far, 1625 soldiers have been booted out for simply being in this state. If a soldier is in this classification, commanders have little discretion in how to handle the soldier. This program is not new, by 1995, the Army had discharged 3000 obese soldiers.
During wartime, obese soldiers are overlooked because the service needs bodies. Now, the trend is to reduce the size for the budget and obese soldiers are prime target. In 2009, the Army said that 75% of all applicants to join the Army were obese and rejected.
What does this say about our society?