Posted on 04/30/2003 12:07:32 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
Texas A&M University's Corps of Cadets will soon be fighting the battle of the bulge.
For 127 years, the Corps has allowed Aggie cadets to weigh any poundage, but some have apparently abused the privilege.
Even though the Corps has inspired many of the traditions that have made A&M famous, this was one tradition the Corps badly wanted to shed.
Corps officials decided this week that cadets must shape up or ship out. New weight requirements take effect this fall, and students who don't meet them can stay in the Corps only if they pass body fat tests or lose four pounds a month on a consistent basis.
"To see someone disrespect the cadet uniform by not having enough respect to keep themselves in shape is one of the most frustrating things I can see," said senior Scott Goble of Waco, a cadet who must remain trim and fit because he is also a member of the school's vaunted Yell Team.
Dane Plumley, a junior from Spring, said he has seen overweight cadets "falling out" from weekly Corps runs because they can't keep up. The overweight cadets didn't actually fall, he said, they just stopped running with their units.
Corps Col. Anthony Groves said Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne, who became Corps commandant in October, instituted the change "in an attempt to promote a healthier lifestyle."
In the same spirit, Groves said, the Corps this year began enforcing agility and conditioning requirements on the books for a couple of years.
He said the Corps examined weight requirements in the nation's four military branches and the life insurance industry. From these, the Corps picked the most lenient weight requirement for a specific height.
For example, a 5-foot-8 male can weigh up to 184 pounds, a female with this height up to 170 pounds.
Groves said "a number" of the 1,730 students currently in the Corps would likely not pass the new requirements.
Dustin Crawford, a senior cadet from Carthage, admits he has "a bit of a stomach." He stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 235 pounds.
"I think it's a good change, but it could have been more lenient on some of the requirements," said Crawford, who is confident he can lose four pounds a month.
He said he has spent $1,000 for his senior cadet boots, and would be "pretty upset" if he were to be kicked out of the Corps.
John Adams of Laredo, a 1973 A&M graduate and an historian of the Corps, said weight became a problem in the Corps in the early 1970s, when fewer and fewer cadets stayed in the ROTC for four years to receive their military commissions.
"Many Aggies have got to quit eating pizza and start marching and working out more," said Adams, who in 2001 published a 125-year retrospective of the Corps called Keepers of the Spirit: The Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, 1876-2001.
For most of A&M's history, all students were required to be in the Corps and ROTC for four years. When they graduated, they had to serve their military commissions.
But when A&M became co-educational in 1963, membership in the Corps became voluntary, Adams said.
Cadets are now required to be in ROTC only as freshmen and sophomores. They must stay in ROTC during their junior and senior years to earn their commissions, or may drop out of ROTC but remain in the Corps.
Because ROTC students must meet weight requirements established by their branch of service, most of the weight problems have been associated with cadets who don't stay in ROTC, Adams said.
Corps spokesman Maj. Doc Mills said the Corps has 300 juniors and seniors in ROTC, compared with 500 who are not. Women make up about 6 percent of the Corps, he said.
Groves said cadets who do not meet the weight requirements can stay in the Corps if they meet these body fat maximums or less: 24 percent for males age 17-20; 26 percent for males 21-27, and 33 percent for females in both age groups.
Students who don't meet the weight or fat criteria will be offered counseling to help them lose weight.
Groves said they must shed four pounds a month until they reach their weight or body fat goal, but they don't have to lose weight every month. They will be kicked out of the Corps if they don't lose four pounds in three different, but not necessarily consecutive, months.
Cute joke, but just in case someone doesn't recognize the origin:
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