Should the Army Height and Weight Standards be revised?

There are several good points here. I have a little bit that I would like to add. 1. Several people mentioned the Commander must.... That is not true. A commander has a lot of discretion if they want to use it. I could do a lot for someone who could run seven minute miles, weighed 240 lbs and was 5'6". I know because I did. 2. I firmly agree a valid PT test should be the standard. Being fit will save your life in real operations and that is what our jobs are (or were) about. Pushups, situps, two mile run for a PT test don't cut it for several reasons. The first is that it is too easy to train for just the PT test. It only tests a few parts of training. It is a good start but lets add pullups - test you against your body weight. Lets test us doing a weight drag or carry for 50 yards. It should maybe be a standard weight since it simulates dragging someone hurt. It is not unfair for smaller people. It tests something that you may need to do. 3. For years we have talked about an MOS specific test for PT, but the answers have always said that it is too hard. I disagree. It would be more fair. It only needs to be one event. It could be a crew drill for a gun crew but something obviously different for the unit clerk. 4. We do the present test because it requires no equipment. In 1976, we did a run, dodge and jump test. It needed equipment. A shuttle run with blocks is similar and only needs a few wooden blocks. The horizontal bars could be replaced by pullups. Anyplace there is a door, you could add a pullup bar.

Yes they should. Before I retired, we had people being taped that were muscular, and could pass their pt test with no problem. It is an antiquated system that does more harm than good.

Not sure I know your angle or rational SGT (Join to see), but I would say Yes.

I paid attention to Height/Weight and PT always, and still do. But, I also saw many large folks, muscular at times who had issues endlessly with 600-9... and then some really fat dudes with really large necks... who did not... We used to joke at the gym, about fat dudes working on their necks vs. their bodies.. One size fits all, does not work, as SFC Stephen King stated.

Yes some people are just built bigger.

Best solution I've seen to this issue is to allow an extra 2-5% body fat based off of your APFT score. So if you score a 75 in each category on the APFT, you get an extra 2% leeway on your body fat score, 80 you get an extra 3%, etc.

I've dealt with the back and forth with taping issues. I wish i could say that i've never been over weight and it was simply a taping error, but I've been on both sides of the equation. I can't tell you how demoralizing it is to have worked your butt off for several months, come in and take an APFT, score 75-90 points in each category, and then miss tape by 1% because somebody "knows" the(ir) "proper" taping procedure and refuses to let anyone do a re tape. And while i applaud the CPT for posting what is supposed to happen with being separated for failure to meet height and weight standards, I've seen several people chaptered out for this, and i can guarantee you that those procedures were not followed.

I'm with the "yes - H&W standards need to be revised" crowd for essentially the same reasons that have been posted already. As well as it's an antiquated (although, not as far as most SM's probably think) system, as the human body continues to evolve.

In 1976, the standards were updated (from the previous update in 1960, which implemented the 5 year age increments) due to "Army personnel were becoming too sedentary and were not maintaining desired levels of physical fitness. Quite simply, the Army leadership felt that there were too many obese soldiers". (Sounds familiar?)

The problem is the human body isn't identical from one to the next. We're all different types of somatotypes - which leads to different body compositions. And the Army's H&W standards really address only one - the mesomorph.

A good (but rather lengthy read) is http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235960/ - which delves into the history of H&W standards for the Army and the rationale for the standards at the time.

I truly think that height and weight standards should be revised. Every nationality does not have the same physical makeup. For instance islanders..they are not small people in general. It needs to be revised or base fitness on fitness tests..

Yes. They should be more strict. I think the Marines have it right.

I like some of you guys are retired. I don't really remember when that water test began to check your body fat, but if I'm not mistaken I was a PFC at the time, and everyone was tested regardless of the service member's height and weight, or your PT score. It was cumbersome and put us behind schedule on training. I do not remember anyone being passed the standards, however, we went through this maybe five or six times per week, and we PT'd like a .... not to mention humping all over God's green Earth, and most found time to hit the weights whenever possible and play on sports leagues. So I agree, they system needs to be revamped. To be clear, I always liked PT with troops, but the body fat test, somebody in Foggy Bottom must have thought that up.

Yes. I have never failed a PT test in my life, but always walk that razor edge on HT/WT. According to weight standards, I usually qualify as "obese" and had a promotion packet delayed a year because l was flagged. But just looking at me, I look up to speed. Even a previous company commander told me all he cared about was passing PT. I get it if you look like Santa wearing ACUs, but if you pass the 'eye test' and pass PT, it shouldn't be an issue. As a 41 year old 73" tall male, I returned from BCT five pounds over max weight. Something needs changed.