Experts: Weight, not gender, may be biggest problem in qualifying for combat
January 25, 2013 | 12:05 AM
Weight may be the biggest issue for women serving in combat, as it is for men, experts said Thursday after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted restrictions on women serving in combat roles, NBC News reported on its Vitals website.
Jamie Barnett
“I don’t think gender is a factor at all,” retired Navy Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett, who is now at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, told NBC. “I do think there are physical requirements and not all men or women will be able to meet those physical requirements. Those physical requirements should be tied specifically to making sure the job gets done.”
The biggest problem both sexes face in qualifying for combat service is their weight, he added.
Barnett is a member of Mission Readiness, the group of retired military that fought hard for the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which has required changes in school meals in an attempt to combat the problem of childhood obesity.
“Already we see only one in four Americans between ages of 17 and 24 who can join the military,” Barnett said in a telephone interview. “The single biggest reason is that they are overweight.”
Edward Archer, an exercise physiologist at the University of South Carolina, also told NBC that people selected for combat roles will be “a select few.”
“When it comes to physical capacity, I think without any question there will be females who will be able to exceed and excel and to perform as well as the average male, in that setting,” Archer said.
But he also said, “We are too ‘unfit to fight,’ is the term. We are definitely an unfit society. They need basic training to get ready for basic training. This is true of both males and females.”
Some rural Republicans have opposed the new school meal rules, particularly the calorie limitations, and have introduced legislation to reverse them. The Agriculture Department has maintained the calorie rules, although it has allowed schools some flexibility in the content of the meals.
First Lady Michelle Obama has raised the issue of weight in the military as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign. Under the Obama administration, the military has also begun to change its food offerings at bases in order to encourage soldiers and their families to a more healthy lifestyle.
“I don’t think gender is a factor at all,” retired Navy Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett, who is now at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, told NBC. “I do think there are physical requirements and not all men or women will be able to meet those physical requirements. Those physical requirements should be tied specifically to making sure the job gets done.”
The biggest problem both sexes face in qualifying for combat service is their weight, he added.
Barnett is a member of Mission Readiness, the group of retired military that fought hard for the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which has required changes in school meals in an attempt to combat the problem of childhood obesity.
“Already we see only one in four Americans between ages of 17 and 24 who can join the military,” Barnett said in a telephone interview. “The single biggest reason is that they are overweight.”
Edward Archer, an exercise physiologist at the University of South Carolina, also told NBC that people selected for combat roles will be “a select few.”
“When it comes to physical capacity, I think without any question there will be females who will be able to exceed and excel and to perform as well as the average male, in that setting,” Archer said.
But he also said, “We are too ‘unfit to fight,’ is the term. We are definitely an unfit society. They need basic training to get ready for basic training. This is true of both males and females.”
Some rural Republicans have opposed the new school meal rules, particularly the calorie limitations, and have introduced legislation to reverse them. The Agriculture Department has maintained the calorie rules, although it has allowed schools some flexibility in the content of the meals.
First Lady Michelle Obama has raised the issue of weight in the military as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign. Under the Obama administration, the military has also begun to change its food offerings at bases in order to encourage soldiers and their families to a more healthy lifestyle.
