American youth too flabby to
defend nation, retired generals say
Washington Times,
by
Mike Glenn
Original Article
Posted By: Judy W.,
12/29/2020 11:40:50 AM
A group of retired military leaders is warning the Pentagon that most of America’s youth is too out of shape to defend the nation.
The organization, known as “Mission Readiness” wants the Pentagon to help set up an interagency committee to address what it considers the nation’s military recruiting crisis. (Snip) According to the Department of Defense, 71 percent of young Americans are unable to serve in uniform, largely due to obesity, drug abuse, a poor education or a crime record. “These factors largely fall outside of the Department of Defense’s purview but have an immense impact on the ability of the military to recruit new servicemembers
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Ribicon 12/29/2020 11:44:54 AM (No. 644059)
Perhaps, but high-fructose corn syrup and processed foods are very profitable; any attention paid in that direction is downright un-American.
10 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
GO3 12/29/2020 11:48:36 AM (No. 644063)
Dear Generals, Another major factor in the recruiting crises is something within your purview. It’s called not winning.
26 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
hurricanegirl 12/29/2020 11:56:05 AM (No. 644071)
It seems to me that basic training ought to take care of that right quick, but what do I know.
25 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
earlybird 12/29/2020 11:59:18 AM (No. 644075)
Those of us who have been on the internet for a long time know that this little bulletin comes out every few years.
13 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
earlybird 12/29/2020 12:00:50 PM (No. 644076)
PS. The Marine Corps has always been able to take almost anybody and whip them into fighting shape. If you ask a Marine, “what about the Army?” they’ll say “not so much…”
Semper Fi!
18 people like this.
Well just take a look at the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . He makes John Goodman look svelte.
19 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Flyball Dogs 12/29/2020 12:05:00 PM (No. 644087)
Physical readiness is only half the problem.
The other problem is mental (intellectual) and moral unfitness.
My nieces are college graduates. While their moral character is top-notch, they cannot pass a fundamental civics lesson, let alone identify states.
Good high schools. Good colleges. But no education.
Makes me sad.
38 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
bad-hair 12/29/2020 12:06:19 PM (No. 644088)
Well there's this thing called BOOT CAMP
Maybe we should start with the Antifa Mutant Ninja Turtles. They think they are scary.
11 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
anniebc 12/29/2020 12:09:54 PM (No. 644092)
Amen, poster #5. Marines are not born; they are made.
19 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
grampus 12/29/2020 12:10:33 PM (No. 644094)
Headline doesn't fit the article. Article says problem with today's recruiting pool: crime, drugs, education (intellect), and weight. I predict that the brain-trust trying to solve this problem will provide a complicated, useless set of answers. Anyone remember "Project 100,000" of Vietnam War days? Today's group should start their work by first studying "Project 100,000".
7 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
mean Gene 12/29/2020 12:10:41 PM (No. 644095)
Why on earth would we send men into a war when they can remote direct drones and bombs and rockets over the target?
Who needs fighting men?
Obama just loved to put our men in harm's way.
But there's no reason to do as much of that as in the past.
10 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
bighambone 12/29/2020 12:16:10 PM (No. 644102)
The Generals may think that being out of shape is a problem with recruiting young people who are fit for purpose in the armed forces, but if you ask the company grade officers and non-commissioned officers who have to deal directly with the portion of today’s young people who still do voluntarily join up, they will tell you that attitude is just as much a problem for them. When you put both of those problems together, you have a real problem.
11 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
ROLFNader 12/29/2020 12:18:09 PM (No. 644103)
I wonder what the effect of allowing women and then 'festive' men in the ranks has to do with it?
20 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
volksford 12/29/2020 12:20:10 PM (No. 644104)
When was the last time you passed a nice green open field and saw kids playing baseball or football ?
18 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
RobertJ984 12/29/2020 12:24:45 PM (No. 644108)
I've always said that. Fat, with no testosterone. Russia and/or China can March in and take over without firing a shot
10 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
stablemoney 12/29/2020 12:35:20 PM (No. 644118)
Generals are too flabby, too Obamaesque, to defend America.
19 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Newtsche 12/29/2020 12:37:02 PM (No. 644122)
Predictable fallout from the decades-long War on Boys.
White boys hardest hit.
25 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
TXknitter 12/29/2020 12:58:25 PM (No. 644131)
Amen #5. My Dad said he was a very spoiled, skinny, out of shape 17 year old when he joined up after Pearl Harbor. He has said many times the Navy had us Mama’s boys made into tough MEN before very long.
So this retired General has no criticism about tiny women who often need manly assistance to even get through Boot Camp?
11 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
doctorfixit 12/29/2020 1:03:43 PM (No. 644135)
Lenin said that it will not be necessary to war against America.
Lenin said America will fall to communism like an overripe plum.
And so it has.
11 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
udanja99 12/29/2020 1:11:19 PM (No. 644142)
Amen, #5. My husband enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1969 as a 6 foot tall string bean of 135 pounds. When he graduated from boot camp at Paris Island he weighed 153, having gained 18 pounds of solid muscle.
9 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 12/29/2020 1:16:58 PM (No. 644145)
Agree with #1 about high fructose corn syrup. Gave it up about 2 years ago, and dropped 40 pounds with no effort. That stuff is rotting our population from the inside out, literally. There is no reason for using that stuff, or pouring gluten into everything they can as well. They are creating food allergies in people, and it is time for a national reset on that subject.
As to the generals, they don't have a monopoly on flabby young men entering the military. That is why we have something called boot camp to whip them into shape.
11 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
conrep62 12/29/2020 1:30:06 PM (No. 644158)
I think it would be a great thing to bring back the draft. This this time though, include women too. It is not too much to ask that America's young citizens give two years of service to their country to protect the rights, freedoms and liberty our great nation enjoys, or used to anyway.
11 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
bad-hair 12/29/2020 1:32:56 PM (No. 644160)
Because #11
Sooner or later you run out of drones.
5 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Vesicant 12/29/2020 1:36:14 PM (No. 644163)
Where's the boot camp for the moral flabbiness?
15 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
oldmagnolia 12/29/2020 1:38:45 PM (No. 644170)
Bring back the draft right out of high school for two years.
10 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
GO3 12/29/2020 1:49:53 PM (No. 644181)
#11, we're doing that now and ultimately, it doesn't solve the issue in addition to what #23 said. Servicing targets is just one part of the equation, but that alone doesn't break the enemy's will.
4 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Lazyman 12/29/2020 2:21:55 PM (No. 644210)
These are the kids you expect to shoot our way out of socialism one day?
10 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
smokincol 12/29/2020 3:23:14 PM (No. 644255)
absolutely true plus, there is not one scintilla of patriotic feeling in many of the youth today. history is not "taught" in public schools today, it is a combination of white people are bad and our country was founded by a bunch of (here's that word again) white rich people who only wanted to enslave a whole country. federal government intervention in the public school systems across the country was the worst application of public government in history.
4 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
Jethro bo 12/29/2020 3:34:55 PM (No. 644266)
Hey, why don't we allow lawyers to sue playgrounds out of existence and force boys to take drugs instead of playing sports. Oh, forgot abut that Title IX thing that outlaws male sports and demands women's sports instead.
5 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
red1066 12/29/2020 5:19:43 PM (No. 644336)
Video games have had as much influence over the inactivity of youth as food full of sugar.
5 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
ocho reales 12/29/2020 5:25:32 PM (No. 644344)
#22 and 25 are spot on. This entire problem could be solved with mandatory military service for all young people. No deferments. Every young man and woman upon reaching 18 and graduating high school serves in the military for 2 years. Go to college after service. You'll be a grounded person, will know what you want to do and you'll take your studies seriously. I'm an oldster. We had the draft back in the day. I served in the Army. Military service helps you focus on life's goals and gives you experience in the real world of responsibility. I'll bet there is not one liberal who would agree with me, not one.
3 people like this.
Unfortunately my Marine Corps is watering down physical and marksmanship standards to accommodate gender neutral training. To include closing Parris Island. Thank you Commandant Berger for caving in to this nonsense and breaking ranks with those who made the Marine Corps what it was.
6 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Strike3 12/29/2020 5:40:37 PM (No. 644355)
Too flabby, too cowardly, too stupid, too entitled, too cool to even join the military. I hope Old Joe doesn't make the mistake of starting any wars because our younger generation absolutely sucks.
4 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
DVC 12/29/2020 6:11:43 PM (No. 644386)
Largely true. One of the most obvious things I saw when I began visiting Ukraine, Russia and other former soviet states was that the typical Ukrainian woman in the 20-30 age range weighs about 40-60 lbs less than the typical American woman. And the guys aren't quite as bad, but close.
2 people like this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
4Justice 12/29/2020 6:26:17 PM (No. 644403)
I am with you #3. My dad joined the army during WWII. He was underweight, malnourished, and short. His family was dirt poor. After basic training, he grew 3 inches and was in good shape.
3 people like this.
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Since everything that is happening now seems to have been planned by the Russians and the Chinese, consider that over the past decades the communist-influenced education establishment has shortened or even eliminated recess and assigned more and more homework to young children, using up their after-school play time. (I'm not even worried about y'all calling me paranoid at this point.)