Wow, sorry about your ordeal, Svpernaut. Bats, RR and tigermission - I'll bet you 3 now feel pretty small after mocking the childhood obesity claim that Svpernaut made.
I claim BS, or at very least, you just had the most screwed MEPS station ever. When I went through Meps I was diagnosed with the flattest feet the Doc had ever seen or heard of. My feet are so flat that I cant bear to wear sneakers that have anykind of arch in them, because they would ache so badly. I watched as guys so fat that they couldnt even do the required 13 pushups get pushed through by the BOATOAD. I watched an ungastly fatbody by the name of Ronald (had to of been at least 6'3 and close to if not over 300 lbs) get into my basic training. I even had a platoon mate who claimed he failed his vision test with his glasses on. Its not about the MILITARYS strict recruitment policy. Its about who administered your you particular tests. Unless you kept seeing the same guy over and over and over. I cant figure how this is possible. If your asvab is good, and you your not in a position of having a heart attack during basic, they let you in. I had about 60 guys in my basic platoon. In our Battery there was 4 platoons of about equal numbers. Id say of those at least 20 percent were over the militarys body fat requirements or obese upon entrance. I did my basic at Fort Sill, OK. Alpha Battery. Went on to AIT in Fort Bliss El Paso where I saw even more fatbody, MOSTLY girls, there then at Basic.
Yeah dude, I'm making it all up. You got me! The MEPs is independent of any branch of the service, and the people that look over you are from all branches of the military to keep continuity. The only thing that could have gotten me in was the Colonel over the SE Texas recruiting stations... but he told me he's never done it and he won't because if he sent me and ANYTHING happened to me it would be his ass on the line, and he didn't spend 20+ years in the Army to watch it all go down the drain because of one potential recruit. I was delayed three times for them to "try and get me into better shape" but the more weight I lost, the more I failed by... feel free to tell me how the hell that makes sense. I spent a week at the gym before my last ship-date bulking up my neck (recruiters ideas), but as you know you can't bulk up your neck in a week. The recruiters also told me of ways to make my neck look bigger and blah blah blah... All of which makes absolutely no sense. I met the physical fitness requirements and they still couldn't let me in, because no one was going to put their careers on the line for one recruit no matter how much potential they have. You're right, they DO take some people that are overweight, but it is ONLY those who fit that perfect mold to beat the the height, weight, chest, neck system. I had an 18.5" neck going in, you can be 6' and like 275 and and get in with a 18.5" neck. Meanwhile if you're 6' and have a 16" neck you can only get in at like 205 lbs. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. A guy in my deplyoment group was about 5'10", 250 and had an 18" neck and got in... he even had a "beer belly." Meanwhile here I am in pretty damn good shape, 214 with a 16" neck and 6' tall and don't get in. Trust me, I wish I was making this crap up, but I'm not.
I encourage you to go talk to a recruiter a few times and investigate it on your own. I worked out with my recruiter hundreds of times, and we discussed a lot of crap including what the biggest recruiting hurdles are. It is never not enough people interested... it is people being overweight, people having small medical problems and people not passing the ASVAB. One guy in my recruiting station (River Oaks) took the ASVAB 3 times before passing it... a High School graduate. The lowest passing score on an ASVAB is 22!!!! 22 of 99!!! They had kids in there all day long taking ASVAB practice exams and making 10-18s. My recruiter SGT. Rivera couldn't even speak english when he took the ASVAB in the early 90's and he scored a 35, but these kids were scoring 10s!
nope not at all . .. I think the percentage is small compare to the lack of Will for war Rocket River
What if we opened up reconstruction to the French and other European nations, and give them a greater influence in the matter.
This is so ridiculous. Bush and his supporters claim that by attacking Iraq, they have formed a hotbed of terrorists and can take them all out on one front. It's not like someone is a "designated terrorist" and they've been walking around all these years thinking "yea, I'm a terrorist." Terrorism is a mindset which is developed under political circumstances. I would recommend "Pape's study on Suicide Bombing." The Iraq war has created terrorists by our presence and interference over there. If you can't understand that, and think all these people were already suicide bombers and terrorists, then I can't help you. In the same breath, you talk about the greatness of liberating the Iraqi people while killing, as you say it, "thousands" of terrorists. Don't mistake the insurgency for terrorism. The same people you claim to be liberating are the people fighting back.
I'm not sure what to make of this thread. Kind of makes me regret not staying in Vegas for an extra night. Even though I opposed the invasion I'm closer to the stay the course position as I believe the consequences of pulling out haphazardly are going to have very negative longterm implications for us and the Iraqis. That said I found the article compelling with some good points. I disagree with the idea that the war is over and we've lost. I don't think the insurgents have won either its still in flux. I guess the big problem is how you define victory. As to Svpernaut's plight I find it believable but not convincing as a cause for a shortfall in recruitment. While it might've led to him being turned down I'm surprised that more hasn't been made of this situation. Or combatting obesity hasn't turned into a priority for this admin if it really is causing such a massive recruitment problem. For that matter while yes there is an epidemic in obesity in the US its not like every kid is a fat body. There are many able bodied men and women who are simply not willing to join the military or as some posters here say have something better to do than go and join the military.
Bigtexxx I have one question, Are you still happy that Bush started this war? You were in favor of it when it started, now looking back would you stil be in favor if you knew then what you know now?
Great outcomes can still result in the long run in Iraq. Just as you wouldn't want to judge Europe's rebuilding success 1-2 years after WWII, you shouldn't judge Iraq after the same time period. The exit costs of leaving now are extremely high and should not be undertaken.
Oh, the people were around, they just weren't, you know, exploding back then - which is, you know, the problem with giving them motive and opportunity to do so. Our course sucks. What is it anyway? I don't know what it is. All I ever hear are platitudes like "stay the course" that suggests (and the results seem to bear this out) that we really are just bloodily fumbling around.
Really texxx? What are the parallels between 1947 Europe and 2005 Iraq - aside from a mutual surplus of rubble, I see very few, unless there were sectarian suicide bombings between rival calvinist sects, revenge killings, kidnappings, globally politicized nazi resistance movements etc.
Will you consider an Islamic Theocracy in Iraq with strong ties to Iran a "great outcome"? I would call it a monumental failure that could be directly attributed to George W. Bush.
you didn't reply to my question. If you knew then what you know now would you support the war? And what are the comparisments between Europe after WW2 and Iraq of today? As far as i can remeber Hitler attacked the other European countrys, and now Bush is attacking Iraq, and as much as i dislike Bush i would not compaire him with Hitler. i do not think there is any resemblance between europe after WW2 and iraq now, Most europeans did not attack the Americans when they Liberated us, because they actually liberated us. In Iraq the Americans do not get the same support.
No surprise there, arno. That's not texxx's game. He likes to demand others answer his questions, thanking them in advance (just like his big brother), and then disappear once people do so. Ask him a question, he disappears too. Interesting that Svpernaut was the only war supporter that even tried to respond to Rich's article and that he himself had no answer for my response to his. Meanwhile Svper and texxx have plenty of time for the derailment re: overweight people in the military. texxx didn't answer my question either. Don't hold your breath.
LOL - always a treat to deal with ya, bats. The overweight people getting denied is not a small issue. The reason I responded to that point is that one of my best friends was also denied admission to the Navy several years ago due to a minor health issue (related to his bowels - don't ask details). He's now one of the staunchest Bush supporters out there.
europe 1-2 years after WWII was doing a hell of alot better than iraq is today. and the post-war euros actually wanted us there. thats another difference. looks like the "great outcome" we have to look forward to is iraq becoming a iran-style theocracy. that is what the majority of the people there want. thats also what osama bin laden wants. dubya fell right into his hands by taking out the only non-fundamentalist islamic state in the region.
