The Army is worried that America is getting too out of shape to fight.
The lack of fitness in America's youth has been a problem for the military for years. According to a recent study by the Heritage foundation, more than 70 percent of Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 are ineligible to serve for some reason — and for many, it comes down to their physical fitness level.
For those who do make the cut, poor fitness can quickly lead to injuries during training — particularly among recruits from the Southern U.S., one of the most fertile recruiting grounds for the military. To fix this, the army wants to "fundamentally change the culture of fitness in the military," according to a new report by the Fayettville Observer.
But what exactly does what does it take to be combat ready, and how should the Army fix its fitness problem? To find out, we asked a couple guys who'd know — two former Army Rangers who've been through the harshest training the Army has to offer.
"Most sergeants I know would probably agree that the kids are out of shape, because that's what older sergeants have been saying for, like, centuries," Adrian Bonenberger, who served in the army as an airborne Ranger-qualified infantry officer from 2005 to 2012, told MensHealth.com.
Randy Collins, a former Ranger-qualified First Sergeant and instructor at the Army's Ranger School, told Men'sHealth.com that part of the problem is that the Army Physical Fitness Test is a "poor assessment tool." The APFT, as it currently exists, is just a certain number of push-ups, sit-ups, and a two-mile run, usually administered every six months.
"Though I understand the reason behind it, the APFT is a very simple tool that is outdated," Collins said. When a doughy, 18-year-old recruit comes into basic training, Collins says, "It takes many months to get that soldier into fighting shape. You have to incorporate speed, strength, agility, load-bearing fitness, and mental fitness into your training."
-Popular Mechanics
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