Don't worry, we do:
Posted on 12/04/2020 6:01:18 AM PST by Kaslin
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced a new set of physical requirements for its field officers in 2015. For the first time since the year 2000, the Bureau established a fitness test. It is puzzling that over those 15 years, agents have not had such a test, whereas in the 1980s and 1990s physical fitness testing was mandatory.
As if announcing that such tests somehow represent a revelation, the director of the FBI cited that protecting the lives of American citizens, as well as FBI colleagues, "may well depend" on FBI agents' physical abilities, such as running, fighting, and shooting.
Masters of the Universe
What are these new requirements? Brace yourself. Men ages 20 to 29, must complete 38 sit-ups in one minute, 29 push-ups without stopping, a 300-meter sprint (a bit more than three football fields) in 59 seconds, and a 1.5-mile run in 12:29 minutes. Yes, you read it correctly – men, in the prime of life, are required to do 29 push-ups.
I have friends in their 50s and 60s who can easily do more than 50 pushups. I'm past 60 and I can do 120 on a bad day. I know women who can do more than 29. Yet, these requirements are announced as if they represent a badge of honor: The director told his underlings, "I want the American people to be able to take one glance at you and think, 'There is a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.'"
Women, ages 20 to 29 must complete 32 sit-ups in a minute, 15 consecutive push-ups, a 300-meter sprint in 71 seconds, and a 1.5-mile run in 15:05 minutes.
A Free Pass for 'Old' Folks
As agents age, the physical requirements decrease remarkably. Men, ages 50 to 59, must complete 24 sit-ups in a minute, 13 consecutive push-ups, a 300-meter run in 83.2 seconds, and a 1.5-mile run 15:14. Women, ages 50 to 59, must complete 14 sit-ups in a minute, a whopping five push-ups without stopping, a 300-meter sprint in 113.2 seconds, and a 1.5 mile run in 19:10 minutes.
Should anyone be impressed? Amazingly, these minuscule FBI fitness requirements have been heralded within the Bureau as recalling, "The spirit of the Bureau's first director, J. Edgar Hoover, who translated his obsessions over his own weight into concern over his agents well being."
Agents who have to do 29 push-ups are supposed to inspire us, make us feel safer, and be easily identified as special? Special to whom, exactly? What an unfit nation we have become. And, most alarmingly, how much lower can our standards drop?
Flabby Bodies, Flabby Procedures?
There's probably only a fleeting connection here at best, but could the flabby standards of today's FBI in any way be connected to its recent shoddy law enforcement standards? Over the past several years, the top echelon of the Bureau has exhibited a discernable lack of ethics, candor, and professionalism. It has mis-executed or over-executed the powers bestowed upon them.
Dozens of upper management and top officials within the FBI have proven to be ethically if not legally unfit for duty. Their relaxed and biased investigative procedures should make us all shudder. How, as a nation, can we survive with our top law enforcement agency so compromised, across so many fronts?
Does the lack of rigor following the law and administering justice, among the FBI's top officials, in some way filter down to the rank-and-file? It would not be out of bounds to presume that the lower fitness standards follow suit?
Impressive – Not
Can the agency be reinvigorated? Can it once again serve as a beacon of effective intelligence gathering, national security, and law enforcement? Yes, but it'll take some doing.
In any case, when hundreds of schoolboys in any county across the U.S. can greatly exceed any of the FBI’s is physical requirements without breaking a sweat, are we supposed to be impressed by the FBI? Law enforcement professionals from all types of agencies throughout our nation's history who have since passed on must be turning over in their graves.
If they do nothing, why have physical standards?
Loading files into shredders and destroying hard drives requires physical effort. They’re just gearing up.
Don't worry, we do:
The agents kneeling like that look like semi-swastikas.
I’ve long suggested that in the face of an increasingly out of shape public, the military should set up low cost fitness training areas around the country, to raise the physical fitness bar *before* induction, so the military doesn’t have to during basic training, and can focus on other things.
And no reason that FBI and other federal law enforcement personnel shouldn’t do so as well.
You figure, wooden barracks surrounded by a high fence, bring your own athletic clothes, food is provided, especially for those on restricted diets to lose weight. Training is conducted by veterans.
The bottom line is that by raising the quality of trainees, a ton of money is saved in their actual training, and they get a lot more out of their training as well.
..........”Physical condition” of the FBI personnel should be the very least, indeed laughable, of concerns about the agency. The 2020 version of the FBI should just be CLOSED!
During the period it is closed (months), the headquarters building should quite literally be blown up as a very public testimony to the horrific failure of the agency.
Then a new Agency called something like the Federal Office of Investigations should open with one office in each of 50 states and staffed APPROXIMATELY according to population (New York gets more “investigators” than North Dakota).
Investigators to not be attorneys, not have guns and not have badges. When FORCE is needed they use the local Sherriff’s department or police department. Maybe they can even have Regional 10 man SWAT teams?
The Washington D.C. office to be limited to no more than 100 people.
A Tribunal from a different country, say Japan (they take EVERYTHING seriously), should be convened in Dallas (out of D.C.) to review ALL top 10% of the personnel and all personnel hired during the Obama era. If they find ANY bias or malfeasance they fire the individual.
All the foregoing would be a START. The FBI has demonstrated over the past 50 years that in its present form it is dangerous to the American people.
JMHO, but as a former platoon leader and company commander, I would not want a 17 or 18 year old who didn't have the motivation to get himself into shape before enlisting. In my mind, that by itself signals that they're not serious about it. While I was in, Unit PT was typically three days a week for an hour, and was ok for sustainment, but all the soldiers who scored 270+ (out of 300) on their APFT did a lot of training on their own off duty time.
I think what you suggest would be a good idea if we ever returned to a conscripted force structure.
There was just an election with huge, highly organized, cheating that is being TOTALLY IGNORED...yet he’s worried about FBI pushups?
Ignore the Clinton crime syndicate for how long now?
Same for the Biden crime syndicate!
But go after The Donald on B.S. charges for how long?
So many times the FBI has been dirty, I do not see how they keep the budget they get nor the respect they demand.
The trouble is there are far too few in the potential pool as is. The Army in particular has been complaining about this. The vast majority have never had any fitness training.
The benefit from doing pre-training is that you can get a much larger group who are just 20-30 pounds overweight, who have never walked a lot, less run, never done a push up, pull up or a sit up, etc.
The restricted diet plus exercise will burn off that extra fat and then some pretty quickly, and being taught how to exercise will get them up to standards, and then some, in short order.
In any event, this will at least bring in the numbers they need, so they don’t have to lower standards, then it’s up to them to keep them.
Plus as I mentioned before, this is very cost effective.
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