“It’s good that it worked out well.”
In that particular case it did. But with the new exercise program the military has transitioned to, crossfit, both economically and training selections, they have created a new problem.
The old standards, post Vietnam, were based on appearance more than fitness. So the tests they set up were for trimness and gazelle. Unfortunately the requirement called for more rhino than gazelle as the act of carrying heavy equipment on a sprint like a ruck and arms, didn’t match up with sleek and maybe faster in gym shorts.
The military recognized the need for more core strength, but they didn’t adjust their appearance requirements to balance the change. They spent millions on equipment and training both trainers and unit command staff, but didn’t think to adjust to the new bodies. So more people were under the gun to do their job but look pretty in the meantime and there was no way to do that with what they were building.
On the good side for the military, the was an endless amount of people trying to get into the military due to recession and joblessness. So it became a revolving door and the quality of the troop went south with the constant need for retraining and loss. And a lot of troops, in the combat career fields in particular, either hit the road or got a deal with the commander if they were that good at what they did or who they were. And that’s where the real problems came into focus..it became a popularity contest in appearance, at least. And a lot of earned special duties, schools, or assignments were pulled due to overweight/fat standards so morale went south also and the business lost a lot of qualified people. Badly planned and implemented.
rwood