That site also asks for donations, as does Free Republic.
Physical fitness saves lives, DEI takes lives.
That site also asks for donations, as does Free Republic.
I don’t know how real any of those quotes are, but combat is stressful. (Duh!) Physical fitness supports endurance and mental acuity. Fat sedentary officers have no appreciation of the tasks they are undertaking or ordering others to undertake.
Support needs to be fit and strong also.
We had a guy in our unit (C 2/504 Abn Inf) that couldn’t physically keep up.
They transferred him to a non-combat unit in about a month.
This was in 1979.
Wrong! What a stupid comment!
"Why shouldn't folks of divergent abilities be participating in active combat or in the ranks of those giving the orders?"
They can. Nobody disagrees. They must rise to the standards established. If they can, fine.
These stupid remarks merely expose the level of stupidity of those who criticize Hegseth and Trump. The dangerous level of stupidity.
The military does many things that are not strictly necessary. They polish the brass, mop the floors, salute the officers.
This is done to maintain discipline and control It is a whole culture that comes in very handy in actual fighting.
Harris is an idiot. During my 22 years of service in a noncombat role we understood that there might come a time when everyone would need to pick up a gun and become a warrior...and we trained for that.
Too unbelievable for satire, ergo it must be true (and should be news.)
Thanks, John, for another fine commentary, disguised as satire.
Combat planning and leadership have a level of stress all it’s own, and those that are physically fit can do it for much longer. Look at the numbers of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam SR officers who were returned to the states because of severe medical problems brought on by stress.
Stress kills, and physically fit leaders fare better under continuous stress. The same applies to the corporate world, that is why many executives have mandatory exercise and lifestyle programs.
If you want to be a couch potato, you have no business in the military.
Yes, it’s harder as you age to stay fit; it requires discipline and dedication. We have lost that and this administration is trying to get it back.
Yeah!
Combat fitness needs to be different from combat support fitness and combat service support fitness. Truth is, they are that way right now, naturally.
If you visit any of the major combat training posts, like Ft. Bragg, Ft. Benning, etc., they seem to be exercise fanatics. Highly aggressive, highly extroverted places.
Other posts have other priorities than exercising.
This gets chaotic when leaders want all branches to be as fit as 11b infantry. There needs to be slack for those who fail fitness standards but excel in other ways. This happened a LOT when the “fat man” program dictate threw out hundreds or thousands of exceptional, superior or even unique soldiers because they were overweight. This DID NOT help the Army.
I remember seeing an anonymous parody of that, called the “ugly man” program, that proposed kicking out soldiers if they didn’t meet beauty standards, because you have to be pretty to be good war fighters.
It’s common sense.
“”What difference does it make if a general or admiral is too fat to pass any of the fitness requirements that front-line soldiers and sailors are expected to meet?” one source wanted to know.”
Some truth to that but one aspect of leadership is to set an example.
I think it also depends on the level of obesity. Just being overweight is one thing but severe obesity is another.
Best, most competent, 1st Sgt I ever had was overweight, and I doubt he could pass a PT test. However, he was outstanding at getting the troops up, getting them fed, and on the road. That was more important to me than how many pullups he could do.
Do you want warfighters or fluff bunny targets? r
Retention is higher with the warfighter as a goal.
Any general needs to be on the front line occasionally. See StorminNorman. Chubby, but fit.
If all you do is warm a chair, you are an analyst, not a general.
The idiocy of these anonymous ex-Pentagon employees is on full display. First, the article doesn’t say whether these ex employees are civilian or military. If civilian, they don’t know sh-t. If military they are also ignorant about the military and its mission. But the big thing they don’t seem to understand is leadership. A good leader doesn’t ask his men/women to do something he wouldn’t do. He/she leads by example. But that point is lots on these ex employees, democrats and Congress critters.