Posted on 06/24/2002 7:40:32 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
The new standards allow for larger, healthier Marines
By Gordon Lubold, Times staff writer
We’re still hard, but a lot smarter," says Sgt. Maj. Ronald Fetherson.And "smarter" means higher weight limits, a stricter weight-control program and a policy that gives the benefit of the doubt to Marines who may be living large but still ace their PFT.
The Corps’ new physical fitness order has finally hit the streets. While the fitness test remains the same, there are big changes for older Marines, new mothers, taller men and anybody who bellies up to the body-fat maximums. On top of that, Corps officials are encouraging units to do five hours of physical training per week.
It’s a more realistic and fair physical-fitness policy, said Fetherson, sergeant major of the Corps’ Training Command at Quantico, Va. And for the most part, Marines familiar with the revised order like what they see.
Weight tables and fitness have been a hot topic at the NCO Symposium held each spring in Washington, D.C., during which a few dozen NCOs from around the Corps gather to discuss issues that affect Marines and make recommendations to leadership.
"They’re generally good changes and they’ll only benefit the Marine," said Sgt. Valerie Deleon, a generator mechanic with 1st Force Service Support Group at Camp Pendleton, Calif., who participated in this year’s symposium.
The changes to the physical fitness order include:
** New weight tables. To fall in line with changes pending at the Pentagon level, the Corps will allow Marines — particularly female Marines — to be a little heavier.
** A new exception for Marines whose body-fat percentages are slightly above the Corps’ established standard. They won’t be assigned to a weight-control program so long as they can score a first-class PFT.
** A stricter weight-control regimen. Marines assigned to weight-control now will remain on the program for a full six months, no matter how quickly they lose their excess weight or body fat.
Officials with the Corps’ Training and Education Command at Quantico spent more than three years developing a new physical-fitness order. The result, they say, promotes fitness and health yet maintains tough Marine standards.
Modifications have been made to the weight-control order since it was created in 1993, as well as to the physical-fitness test order, which is more than 12 years old. Crunches replaced sit-ups in 1998, the year after dead-hang pull-ups became the standard for male Marines.
Then Congress got into the act, requesting that the General Accounting Office look at the services’ varied weight and body-fat measurement standards. The report that followed in 1998 made a number of recommendations, including that the Pentagon develop uniform fitness and body-fat standards and that those standards better represent the physiological differences between men and women.
It’s been a contentious process, since there was some disagreement between the Corps and the Pentagon over body-fat standards. Ultimately, the Corps won the right to maintain its own expectations, which are higher than those of other services. In part, the Corps argued, most Marines already meet the higher standards, so there is no reason to lower them.
Now the Corps and Defense Department have something they can both live with.
The Corps released its revised physical-fitness standards last month with a set of weight tables Corps officials say will comply with that Pentagon order, expected in the next few months.
New maximum weights
Under the new weight tables, some Marines can be as much as 10 pounds heavier than before.
Men can carry up to three more pounds, but most will see less room to add weight. A 6-foot, 1-inch male Marine who had to weigh in at 209 or below now can weigh only 208 pounds, for example. Most of the increases affect only men who are at least 6 feet 3 inches tall.
The big differences are found on the women’s chart. A female Marine who is 5 feet 5 inches tall used to have to weigh in at 142 pounds or below. Now she can weigh as much as 150 pounds. A woman measuring 5 feet 10 inches tall now can weigh 174 pounds, up from 165 on the old chart.
In many cases, the minimum weights also were increased, generally to guide those working with underweight recruits at boot camp.
The higher maximum weights are meant to reflect the fact that some physically fit Marines typically weigh more than the old standards allowed, Marine officials said.
"This does not mean that they are allowed to be more fat, however," said Maj. Brian McGuire, physical readiness programs officer at Training and Education Command, who oversaw the order changes.
A break for women
Predictably, some fleet Marines say the Corps should not have raised the maximums.
Deleon, who approves of much of the new order, bristles at the notion that the Corps had to change its standards for women, even if the changes were DoD-mandated.
"Now you have more room for being overweight," she said. "I didn’t see too many females having a problem with the other ones. They looked healthy."
The changes to the women’s weight table reflect the fact that the old standards weren’t fair to larger women who were in shape but still didn’t make weight.
The extra weight-allowance may be good for women who have given birth, some fleet Marines said, because it sometimes is difficult for them to lose extra weight gained during pregnancy.
Sgt. Heather Brown, a mechanic with 1st Transportation Support Battalion at Camp Pendleton, is a mother of two. She had virtually no problem losing weight after her second child was born in April 2001. But during her first pregnancy in 2000, she gained about 60 pounds before giving birth and had a harder time cutting the weight.
"I think it’s good for the new moms because it’s really hard to lose all our weight," she said.
Some Marines said they wish the new order treated men and women more or less equally, even though physiologists agree that women typically carry a higher percentage of body fat than men.
Some Marines just don’t like the idea of messing with standards.
"It seems to me we’re just adding and adding," said a male staff noncommissioned officer. "If you’re going to score a first-class PFT, why can’t you do it under the percentage?"
But to the criticism that the Corps is going soft on weight control, McGuire said that although the new weight tables lower standards somewhat, the formula used to determine body-fat composition now is more strict, making it more difficult for some to meet that standard.
The new order still allows for some degree of commander discretion and encourages them to monitor their Marines closely.
Benefit of the doubt
Beyond the DoD-directed weight-table revisions, Training and Education Command officials made other changes they say promote health and good nutrition.
Chief among them is a policy that gives more leeway to some who may have more body fat than they should. The standard itself hasn’t changed — it’s still a maximum of 18 percent body fat for men and 26 percent for women. But since body-fat percentages are calculated with a measuring tape, the Corps assumes there is a margin of error of 4 percentage points because that method is imprecise.
Men and women are taped around the neck and waist, while women are measured at the hips as well.
With that in mind, Marines who score a first-class PFT — 225 or more points for those ages 17-26, for example — still will pass if their body-fat percentage is over the maximum but within the 4-percentage-point margin of error.
For male Marines, that means they can be measured at as much as 22 percent body fat and still pass, if they’ve scored well on their PFT. Female Marines can be measured at as much as 30 percent body fat and still be good to go.
During this year’s NCO Symposium, Sgt. John Studley said the Corps instead should use calipers to measure body fat. The current measuring method doesn’t take into account the fact that different individuals have different frame sizes, Studley said. A caliper would provide more accurate results.
Corps officials admit the measuring-tape method is not perfect and the new order incorporates other changes to address those concerns.
"Depending on where you were and who was doing the tape measure, someone might have you at 18 percent and another might have you at 19 percent," Fetherson said. "It varies from who is doing the measurement. Now we’re being more fair and giving the Marines who fall in that category the benefit of the doubt."
The new order stipulates, for example, that Marines’ height will be measured with non-stretching tape secured to a wall. Some Marines have said their height changes depending on who is doing the measuring.
Weight patrol
Despite the new wiggle room, Marines who are over their weight limit or maximum body-fat percentage still will find themselves quickly assigned to their unit’s weight-control program. But now they’re going to be on that program for six months, regardless of how soon they return to within standards.
The new weight-control policy — known as the Body Composition Program — is meant to teach Marines better eating and nutrition habits as a way to make weight, instead of just starving and dehydrating themselves to get off weight control as soon as possible, McGuire said.
"It’s to ensure that the weight-loss strategies are more long-lasting in nature," he said.
The new order also stipulates that the PFT is to be conducted at least 14 days before or after a weigh-in, placing greater separation between the two commonly linked events.
In the past, some Marines dieted and used dehydration supplements to make weight. But since the PFT often would coincide with the weigh-in, the result was that some Marines scrambling to lose weight at the last minute also pushed themselves to their physical limits to ace the PFT.
"That set them up for injury," McGuire said, and hurt their chances to perform their best on a fitness test.
By putting a 14-day "bubble" around the PFT, the Corps is encouraging Marines to be healthier during the testing process, McGuire said.
Other changes that promote healthier testing are more minor, including a new provision which requires Marines age 46 or older be medically screened before taking a physical fitness test.
Also, the Corps now is encouraging commanders to allow Marines to spend five hours in physical training each week, instead of the current three-hour requirement. Training and Education Command can’t order commanders in the fleet to allow Marines to PT five or more hours, but the order states that it’s a good idea.
Looks aren’t everything
In its 1998 report to Congress, the GAO noted that the Marine Corps and the Army weigh appearance when they determine a service member’s overall fitness.
The two services "indicated that image is an important aspect of effectiveness and because the image of a soldier is one of leanness, an excessively fat appearance could weaken the military image and undermine effectiveness," the report states.
That said, some believe the Corps focuses too heavily on appearance. Many Marines could be heroes in combat even though they have a little extra girth, they say.
Those policies are to the detriment of the Corps, said Mike Hudson, a former Marine captain and Vietnam veteran medically retired in 1984.
Hudson complained earlier this year in a letter to Marine Corps Times that existing Corps policies put fit Marines on weight control simply because they’re bigger-boned.
"I think as a U.S. Marine Corps, we have lost the bubble somewhere in our perception as to who can fight, who can be a Marine, and who can just look the part."
Hudson said he was glad to see the changes made by Training Command.
"I think it’s a great step forward," he said.
Those extra pounds could weigh down your career
Spending six months on weight control won't stop your promotion or re-enlistment, but you're still better off not ending up in the program.
Assignment to the weight-control or military-appearance program always has delayed promotions or re-enlistments. But now that delay won't be just the few weeks it takes to cut the weight — it will be half a year. And if you've already been selected for promotion and are waiting to pin on your next rank, that could mean lost wages.
Under the Corps' new physical-fitness test, Marines assigned to weight control — known as the Body Composition Program — will stay on it for the full six-month duration, regardless of how soon they get back in shape.
With six months to think about your weight issues, you will have enough time to drop pounds or body fat in a healthy manner and at the same time develop nutritional and fitness practices to make sure you keep it off, Training and Education Command officials said.
The change to a six-month mandatory stay on weight control may be an incentive to stay off it in the first place, said Sgt. Maj. Ronald Fetherson, sergeant major of Training Command.
"Now that this new order is out, Marines will probably have a different perspective" on weight control, he said. "The good ones will probably take that and run with it."
Although it will take longer to complete the program, it doesn't mean you won't be promoted or that you will be denied re-enlistment.
Marines in the zone for promotion will still get a look by a selection board. But if they are selected, they won't actually be promoted until they're off weight control, said Maj. James Popielec, who heads the Corps' enlisted promotions branch.
That means they could lose up to six months of pay at that higher rank if they were assigned to weight control just after being selected for promotion. And, perhaps more important, they could lose out on six months of time in grade, which could prove critical during their next appearance before a selection board.
Promotions for privates through sergeants simply will be delayed, while a staff noncommissioned officer's commander will have to apply to Marine Corps headquarters officials to get the Marine promoted once he's off weight control, Popielec said.
The same is true for re-enlistments. If a Marine is on weight control, he doesn't meet requirements for shipping over. If that's the case, the Marine still can be extended as necessary, a re-enlistment official said, until he's off weight control and re-enlistment-eligible.
This was true of the old weight control program, but now the Marine in question may be extending for as many as six months before becoming eligible to re-enlist.
Thirty minutes later, the same Marine who left shows back up and taps the SEAL on the shoulder. "Is your bet still good?" asks the Marine. "Yep," replies the SEAL, and he asks the bartender to line up ten shots of Jack Daniels.
Immediately, the Marine slams all ten shots, drinking them all back-to-back. The other bar patrons cheer as the SEAL sits down in amazement. The SEAL pays the Marine the five hundred dollars and asks, "If ya don't mind me asking, where did you go for that thirty minutes you were gone?"
The Marine replies, "Oh ... I had to go to the bar down the street to see if I could do it first!"
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