Fit To Fight – Obesity makes military recruiting tougher than ever

71 percent of young adults in America don’t qualify for military service for various reasons.

The most common reason, disqualifying 31 percent, is obesity.

Joining the army was something Logan Dicus had always considered.

“It had always been something in the back of my mind as a child,” he said.

However, after high school and college, there were other options, and he ended up an insurance adjuster until the calling became too strong.

I always felt like I needed to give something back. I always felt like I should have when I was younger, in terms of Iraq and Afghanistan and the other conflicts that was taking place. I guess for lack of a better explanation, guilt just sometimes overcomes you sometimes as a man, and I felt the need to do something about it.

Unfortunately for him, passion and patriotism don’t mean an automatic admission.

Dicus was 30 pounds too heavy for his height under Army regulations, and only after losing that weight with the help of his recruiter was he allowed into the future soldier program.

In that program, all recruits have to pass the Occupational Physical Assessment Test (OPAT) that includes four unique challenges with requirements based on their specialty.

The challenges are a standing long jump, seated power throw, strength deadlift, and interval aerobic run.

“And so we will not ship you to basic training if your OPAT score does not qualify you for that position,” explained Lt. Col. William Adams, the commander of the battalion in charge of recuriting for Colorado, Nebraska, and part of Wyoming.

Adams admits its sad for him to see so many young people ineligible for service.

“They’re being denied a great opportunity in the military that unlocks so many doors for them that they don’t even know about,” he said.

It also makes his recruiting mission that much harder.

In 2017, his battalion missed its recruiting goal for active duty Army by 12%, but exceeded a smaller goal for Army reserves by 10%.

The 2018 goal for the Army nationwide was 80,000 until last week, when Army Secretary Mark Esper announced the quota was lowered to 76,500.

Esper noted the nation’s strong economy with an abundance of jobs as a major factor for the slow recruiting year so far.

In addition to a strong economy in Colorado, Adams says there is also a low level of interest in joining the armed forces.

“The recruiting environment is challenging,” he says, “because not only does it (Colorado) have the lowest or second lowest unemployment in the nation right now for recruiting, it also has the lowest propensity, which is kind of like a desire, to serve in the military. So those are two huge obstacles that recruiters have to overcome, so that’s challenging.”

Waivers are an option for recruits who can’t get past certain physical or education requirements, but they aren’t handed out as often as many suspect.

Only 10-12% of all recruits in this region required one last year.

High school and college campuses are the top targets of recruiters, but more and more, the military is turning to social media to share its story, and give that final push to people like Dicus, who ships out on Sunday to Missouri.

He will train at Fort Leonard Wood to be a combat engineer.

In 2017, state lawmakers passed House Bill 1041, which requires guidance counselors to present military service as an option along with college and trade schools to at least make them more aware of the armed services option.

However, Colorado doesn’t require high schools students to have PE at all, and only a small number of individual districts do.

The army’s goal this year in our region is to recruit just under 2,000 active duty men and women, and another 423 for the Army reserves.

Click here to read the first part in our series, focusing on obesity among active duty troops.