Is there an army classification for being too fat to serve?

[Fenris]

I am just being curious. And if there is, how obese must one be to get out of service?

P.S. This is not some plan of mine to get out of a draft, as I am not overweight. This is just a general inquiry.

[quispquake]

1. What episode was that Simpsons quote from???

That was freaking GREAT!!! I've only missed one or two in 14+ years, but I really don't remember that quote!!!

[Fenris]

2. Shit, now I don't remember.

Crap crap crap. Was it the one where Artie Ziff came back to Springfield and was living in the Simpson's attic to avoid the SEC after he was found to have bilked his shareholders out of millions? I know it was a more recent episode.

[Don_G]

3. Call Hasert's Office

He would know.

[Paragon]

7. Let's just call it a "Hastert"

I'm sure John McCain would approve.

[Spinzonner]

4. Only below the neck

[LynzM]

5. I don't know; there must be, though

I work with a lot of people (the nature of telemarketing...) who would be too large to serve, in my opinion. I wonder if/what the cutoff is...

[Angelus]

6. I don't know....

but if there is a classification for being too fat to serve, I'm going to start buttering up that bacon and bacon up the sausage. :)

[0007]

8. I was drafted during the Korea war and I don't remember

ever seeing anyone overweight.

In fact now that I think of it I don't remember even seeing fat people in high school or college. Maybe a few chubby ones, but not fat.

[Fenris]

9. Yes, but that was at the beginning of wealthy consumer culture

It's almost like America has become the people at 20th high school reunions that have become severely overweight due to their hedonistic lifestyles.

[JVS]

10. Perhaps it would fall under 4F

[Nikia]

11. There is for ROTC, service academies, Officer Training

Those weights are not that heavy. I think they pretty much do not let medically overweight people start those programs. Regular military would have to have more lenient standards or about half of people would be disqualified for being overweight. If there was a draft, all but the highest metabolismed people could bulk up heavy enough in a few months to avoid service.

[sbj405]

12. Went to a service academy and there were people who got booted

because of weight. It was of course after being sent to fatty PT for awhile. I can't remember the standards. I think it was like 23% body fat for men, 33% for women. Even the football players had to slim down before being able to graduate.

[Arbustosux]

13. Ask Dennis Hastert

:)

[geniph]

14. I know in wartime,

when they're in need of cannon fodder, they'll accept people who otherwise would be classified as unfit for duty owing to obesity. They send 'em to what's basically an extended version of basic training - they call it Casual Company, but what it truly is is Hell On Earth. They starve 'em and run the fat off of 'em. It's misery - the same misery as any basic training, except that it's extended until you're down to a fighting weight, plus they starve you to death and harangue you mercilessly if you cache a Snickers in your footlocker.

I know several people who were sent to the military fat farms during basic. My husband ended up in Casual Company himself in Marine Corps basic, because he was so heavy that running that much caused stress fractures in his feet. He ended up with about 16 weeks of basic training, but he did become a Marine at the end of it (and looked like he just got out of a concentration camp, too). He was SKINNY when they let him out of the fat farm!

[Fenris]

15. That's really creepy.

I'd hate to be put into one of those places. :scared:

[devilgrrl]

16. There was a weight restriction for women when I signed up in the 80's

Which at the time, I was over, therefore no military service for me.

[Whitacre D_WI]

18. No way! The EIGHTIES?!

I mean... in the gallery, you look, like 25. Tops. Seriously, you look way younger than me. And I was 14 when the '80s ended.

Are you sure you didn't mean the '90s?

[Donkeyboy75]

21. Flirt

[Whitacre D_WI]

24. Actually, it's more astonishment than anything.

:shrug:

[Kenneth ken]

17. dunno

I'd think they'd just put someone through basic over and over until they were fit enough to serve. Heck, if I was king, that's what I'd do.

edit: 4F - fat, fatty, fat-fat ? :evilgrin:

[Wcross]

19. PCP Platoon at Parris Island.....

If you failed your initial physical fitness test they sent you to PCP platoon until you could pass. We had a guy join our platoon from pcp class and the poor guy looked like a Bassett hound- his skin was just hanging off his body. Ah, the fun times to be had at MCRD Parris Island.

[jmowreader]

20. It's not a "classification" per se

They have rid themselves of the old 1A, 4F thing we all have heard about. In its place they have instituted the PULHES system, which gets specific...

P is for Physical Condition. Anything that doesn't fit in the next five categories goes here.

U is for Upper Extremities. Arms, shoulders, upper back. Your head is not an "upper extremity."

L is for Lower Extremities. Lower back, hips, legs and feet.

H is for Hearing. Self-explanatory.

E is for Eyes.

S is for pSychiatric--any mental conditions go here.

Each one can be rated 1, 2, 3 or 4. 1 is perfect. 4 gets you kicked out of the army.

Example: My PULHES was 111121--I need glasses, and badly, but I can be corrected to 20/20.

Overweight is "not in compliance with provisions of AR 600-9, The Army Weight Control Program." AR 600-9 is the easiest way to get thrown out of the Army without smoking any reefer--we called it "eating your way out of the Army." I know one guy who had a t-shirt made up with "Essen Macht Frei" on the front and "AR 600-9 is my friend" on the back. He wore it to physical training one morning--unfortunately, that happened to be the morning the general ran with us. Oh shit.

[pagerbear]

22. My dad wanted to do Air Force officer's training in the 50s

He had to reach 198 to qualify, and he just barely missed it. (He's always been heavy.) Just think how my life would have been different if he'd made it!

[notadmblnd]

23. When I enlisted back in 77

all it took was 5lbs over for women.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

25. I had a dear friend who ate his way out of the Viet Nam draft

He had a very low number and didn't want to flee to Canada or shoot off a thumb, so he started eating constantly. He wasn't heavy before he started. The draft board called him in several times but he was way over the limit so they gave up. I don't know how much he weighed at the time, maybe 70 pounds over.

Sad thing was, he was never able to take it off.