Should the Army Football team waive height and weight standards to have a chance of being a great football program?

No, standards should not change. To make them more competitive, they should be moved to Div II. Ht & Wt standards aside, they simply cannot recruit the caliber of athletes needed to compete in Div I FBS, or even FCS for that matter. Academic and other admission qualifications also limit the recruiting pool of Div I talent. Athletes with that level of talent are being recruited by Power 5 conference schools, making West Point a less attractive option. Rarely do players with Div I talent and ability make a decision to sacrifice a future football career to be an Army Officer. A move to Div II would make it a more even playing field (no pun intended) for Army Football.

I keep seeing comments that they are the physical fitness standards. I always thought height and weight were one of those bogus standards. I would like to see half of the people on this discussion match the actual athletic physical fitness of anyone of those men on the gridiron. While they may be larger than you would like, most if not all probably max the physical fitness test. Therefore it is not their physical fitness to serve that is in question it is their physical appearance.

Yes they should have a sports waiver there are plenty of officers who don't meet height and weight yet still have their commission and command. Plus anyone who has been involved with height and weight knows in certain areas it's flawed stating a very much in shape man isnt meeting height and weight because of their neck size.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something like that just to make their teams better. Hell, they’re already waivering educational requirements for some applicants just because they’re good at the sports, and on a slightly unrelated note, push through academic suspension status and push through people who would otherwise be on academic suspension.

Absolutely not. Standards are standards. Period. What kind of message is that to send before they even commission?!?

I think the better question is "should the military waive height and weight standards for people who are in excellent shape?" We all know that guy who can max a pt test but has 50 extra pounds of pure muscle and wont pass height and weight.

Has anyone checked into whether this already happens or not? When I was a cadet, I think I remember there being waivers for meeting height/weight with the stipulation that you had to meet those requirements before graduation. I could be wrong.

They have body fat standards if AR600-9 disqualifies someone don't they. It was frustrating when I used to be skinny and fit, and did not meet it, but the pot bellied SSG who got winded going up one flight of steps did. But I am not that man anymore. If they want 330 pound line men, sorry. But I have seen plenty of NFL line men who are not fat.

The academies should all play to the same rules so if the Navy and Airforce are allowed to waiver the standards then the Army should be allowed to waiver the standards. The problem will be, after the young man has completed playing football, if he wants to complete his transition to being an Officer in the Army, he will need to be able to meet the HT/WT standards. He should be given a set period 6 months or 1 year for that and I could see some folks like Offensive linemen never making the Army standard. So what do you do with these fine folks?

No.