Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Military leaders worry America’s youth are still too fat or dumb to fight

Military leaders worry America's youth are still too fat or dumb to fight

U.S. military leaders are increasingly worried that young Americans are too overweight or undereducated to join the armed forces
Young Americans are increasingly too overweight or undereducated to join the U.S. military, according to a growing number of both retired and active-duty military leaders.

In a Dec. 17 letter to Acting Secretary of Defense Christoper Miller, Mission: Readiness — a nonpartisan organization of nearly 800 retired admirals and generals — warned that 71 percent of young Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 are ineligible for military service “because they are too poorly educated, too overweight, or have a history of crime or substance abuse.”

While Mission: Readiness has sought to hammer this point home to active-duty military leaders in recent years, this letter to Miller is different. In it, the group urged the acting defense secretary to stand up an advisory committee on military recruitment to “create a long-term strategy to address the biggest disqualifiers for military service.”

The proposed committee, which matches a recommendation to the Pentagon from lawmakers in the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, would work with the departments of Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice to address underlying factors like obesity, lack of education, and criminality and their impact on recruitment.

Those 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 service members as well as a significant monetary impact on the Department,” wrote former Air Force Gen. William M. Fraser and former Coast Guard Adm. James M. Loy in Mission: Readiness’s letter to Miller.

“Without coordinated action, these trends pose a significant threat to the future of the all-volunteer force.”

Mission: Readiness isn’t the only group of military leaders seriously concerned with the state of U.S. military recruitment: Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, head of Army Recruiting Command, warned in 2018 that obesity was the largest reason for the service to disqualify future soldiers.

More recently, Military.com reported that both Navy and Marine Corps officials responsible for recruiting have expressed concern over the factors underlined in the group’s letter to Miller.

“It is something that, as a nation, we should continue to work though … to make sure our children are healthier,” Navy Recruiting Command chief Rear Adm. Dennis Velez told Military.com in a recent interview.

Indeed, Marine Corps Recruiting Service chief Maj. Gen. Jason Bohm went as far as to warn that far fewer than 30 percent of eligible young Americans are suited to join the service.

“If you break it down further into those skill sets, intelligence level, and the physical ability level, those that we’re looking toward bringing into the Marine Corps … quickly decreases to about 7 percent,” Bohm told Military.com. “That’s enormously challenging.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×