Should we revamp and revitalize the "over weight" Program?

2014-03-05T09:02:09-05:00

I am pretty sure most of my colleagues and friends on RallyPpoint are aware of the shrinking military budgets ans various efforts to downsize the force. History shows when this happens units begin to target various statistics in the ranks for early termination (to put it nicely). Those service members that do not meet the fitness and health standards the branches put forth are generally the first to go. I am not suggesting this is a bad thing necessarily, as we should all meet the standards and do our best to exceed them when we can.

The issue I have noticed in my own military career has been the loss of some very good service members due in part to the lackluster and often miss-guided weight control and remedial fitness programs most units have in place. These service members are stellar at their jobs, are always on point and tend to make promising leaders. The problem is they have let their fitness levels become abysmal and not to insult anyone, downright embarrassing.

I can say this because I was part of the statistic for a long time. I got injured several times on various missions and decided in my heart that it was not worth it to stay fit and healthy as it was hard and painful to try. So I got fat, and pretty out of shape. in a matter of a few years I went from 205lbs to 288lbs at my heaviest. Obviously I could not pass an APFT to save my own life so my unit told me something had to be done, or I would find my way out of military service.

Not to disparage my previous units in any way, but the options to get motivated were non existent. Some of my leadership gave good advice and the base medical command offered their usual "cookie-cutter" advice on my poor soldier habits and what a dirt-bag I was. None of this actually helped to motivate me in any way. What I needed was a coach, a mentor, someone who would help me realize that is was not hard to stay fit and exceed standards.

I have had the privilege of serving under many great commands in my career but the one unifying problem I have noticed is the lack of good fitness programs, standards and motivation in each command, particularly in the weight control "Fat Kid" programs. Since my wake-up call I found solace in a civilian coach who offered her service to me free of charge, not because I was military, just because she cared so much about what she did. She changed my eating habits, my life and stress habits, my mental habits and more importantly my fitness habits. Where it used to take me 28 minutes to run 2 miles I can do in 17 minutes or less. I am now down to 221lbs and outpace people 11 years younger than me.

I was able to accomplish this not because of the threat of being discharged or the "dirt-bag" ridicule from my unit leaders (even though I have had stellar service and a multitude of job commendations) but because of one single assigned mentor and coach who showed me I could do what needed to be done to stay healthy for me, my family, my children and my career. I will say it is nice to fit into size 34/33 jeans again after being in size 38 for so long.

My solution is this. The military is downsizing no matter what we do or think, at least for the time being. Unit leadership and the NCO corps throughout the branches are becoming far to busy to set a large amount of time aside to dedicate to being a coach or mentor to soldiers that need to be placed on weight control programs. The knowledge is also not always there on how to best help each individual service member with their goals. My mentor, who is now my fiance, and I have started a company who's mission is to help as many people find their path to health and wellness as we can. We want to help service members of all branched find their motivation again, and we don't want it to cost money for mentoring. Why can't units send their service members to an outside source for guided assistance? We are based near HAAF and Ft. Stewart, but I am sure there are places like us near every base. I think this would free a lot of leaders up to do what they need to do and have a program that offers actual results that is accountable to the unit and service member. Not to mention this is so much fun after a while it is why we chose to make it a career. I would imagine newly motivated entrepreneurial service members would find a new career path in our company, helping others beat obesity and exceed standards.

I would like to know your thoughts on revamping and revitalizing these programs to get a more "fit-driven" unit force.

Response by PFC Kyle Corcoran made Mar 5 at 2014 9:10 AM

2014-03-05T09:10:50-05:00

I think we should Sgt. When I came out of Basic Training and AIT I was in the best shape of my life. As soon as I got to my first duty station, Camp Casey in South Korea, I definitely put on some pounds. It was mostly due to the alcohol consumption and eating late night. Also my units PT was not the most hardcore around. I failed a PT test once and I was told that I had 3 months to lose weight and pass the next one or I would be kicked out. Needless to say I passed. But what I did notice was this, there was a lot of over weight soldiers and I never saw any one get kicked out of the Army from Korea. But when I was stationed in Fort Drum, NY, if they told you they were going to kick you out for failing a PT test, they did it in a heart beat. If units do instill the standard of either passing all physical fitness or getting kicked out then I believe thats the right thing to do. There really is no excuse to be failing PT tests in the military. Especially with PT every morning and numerous gyms on post.

Response by SPC Christopher Salustro made Mar 23 at 2014 1:14 PM

2014-03-23T13:14:43-04:00

I see where your coming from SGT Lea, I was (or am) in the same situation as well. The outlook seems so bleak doesn't it?

I feel like there is a two-part answer to your question. The first is sort of a negative response and I don't mean to flame your in any way, what your doing is awesome, but I truly believe that the Army SHOULD (key word SHOULD) be able to take care of it's own. Why should we send soldiers to outside sources? Why can't we take the control back and let NCOs do their jobs as NCOs. I've been on this road for a long while. I've seen the "Fat Kid" programs you speak of (or lack there of). Every week their supposed to be starting and every week they don't start... again. I've seen many a good soldiers decide that they didn't "want" this anymore because the Army doesn't "care" about them. The Army doesn't want "Fat Kids" they want sticks who can run like the wind, it doesn't matter if they can't put up an OE-254, or create a true Tactical Decision Aid for the Command Cell, or drive (hell, even PMCS) the 1068 (or even 998) for movement to the coming field problem.

People don't generally give oversight on key programs like that though. Why would someone care if fat-boy doesn't get skinny, especially in this downsizing period. I've seen (on RP and FB espeically) flaming of "The Fat-Kid" saying if he doesn't meet the standards currently set he's not good enough. I personally think it's a morale dillemma. It's not fair to that soldier to count him out, throw him on some Army Mandated Program and forget about him. I've had NCOs that say their going to help, then don't and expect me (with the same motivation problem as you) to pick up the slack. Obviously I don't and get hammered for it, though admitting some of the blame falls to me, at what point does it fall on the guy that was SUPPOSED (specifically counseled) to help me.

My other third and semi-off-topic plug has to be the standard. I HATE the weight table, I think it's grossly sided towards the taller of our gender. If your above 6'0 your usually set and good to go, but god forbid if your under 5'10. You're always taped, six pack, benching your body wieght plus some, and you're still fat. The scale is flawed, we all know it, and nobody seems to care. I'm sure that the month I get out the whole system will change, just because I have awesome crap shoot luck like that. One can only hope that it will for the better of the Army and the Soldiers that habitate such a place.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 27 at 2014 9:20 AM

2014-03-27T09:20:28-04:00

Here's the skinny (bad pun intended): With the newest changes in AR 600-9 the "ownership" of one's body composition is placed almost completely on the Soldier. The ABCP has hastened the time for a Soldier to correct their weight issues, and if the Soldier is put back on the program within 12 months they are to be discharged. Commanders had a lot of leeway under the old regulation. For example; if the Soldier was otherwise motivated and squared away and just needed some help losing weight the Commander could play with the time-line, or opt not to discharge. The upside is that Soldiers can now more easily seek out a medical diagnosis (reason they have put on weight, i.e. thyroid disease, etc), however no longer is an injury (profile) an allowable excuse for weight gain. If a Soldier can't PT, they need to monitor their caloric intake. If a Soldier is motivated and their leadership is doing their jobs, there isn't a single Soldier that can't at least make tape. But I'll tell you what, the ABCP is no joke and there are some Soldiers who are quickly going to find themselves discharged because of poor lifestyle choices. We implemented the ABCP last October, throwing out all of the old weight control data, starting from scratch, and we haven't lost a Soldier yet. It's actually been easier to track and monitor progress, the downside is the ton of paperwork the HT/WT NCOs have to do and counselings by the CDR. My issue with the new ABCP is when it comes to R&R and Soldiers returning from AIT. Did you know R&R (in the Guard) can waiver a kid off the street at 24% body fat and ship them to BCT? The day that Soldier steps off the bus at their duty station they need to be at 18% or less. BCT and AIT are a joke nowadays as far as PT goes, and DS can't spend 12 hours a day smoking Soldiers like they used to (that's really too bad for the Army as a whole), and the result is some Soldiers arrive at their duty stations already enrolled in the ABCP! That's bad business in my opinion.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2014 2:42 AM

2014-04-07T02:42:40-04:00

SGT Lea- I d like to personally weigh in on this as its a touchy one with me and I speak as one of the "Fat Kids"-

Two years ago I took an APFT. Did mediocre, nothing to write home about. I would have spurts where I would hit the gym, run, try new fad diets, desperately attempting to grab anything I could to say I was making an effort to get rid of the onslaught of negative comments from my peers.

This past years record APFT I flat out failed my run by a good minute and 20 seconds. It s embarassing to say the least. I had to eat a GIANT piece of humble pie and admit to someone that no matter what I tried I can t keep the weight off and I won t improve. After sitting down and having a good heart to heart, we made a plan of action. It was a complete revamp of my diet upon which the staples of chicken and rice were my primary food groups.

This past record APFT I took I went from a 17:47 2 mile run on my failed record, to a 15:40 run on my last record that I took. That is a 2 minute drop, and a passing score by a wide margin. I took a height and weight at my unit today, and went from a 21% fat percentage ( according to the Army), down to a 13%. I feel better, my pants can hardly hang on my hips, and I had to drop belt sizes from a 34 to a 30.

None of this was a fat kid camp. This was an E6 who is a good friend of mine, who I can trust with anything, and did his level best to live out the NCO creed. He sure as hell helped me and I am positive that one on one counseling and motivating the troop to get out there is 10X better than a group mentality where NCO s are voluntold for the position, would rather not be there, and take it out on the failures to make them feel miserable. I know that it is not supposed to be fun time, but if you are going to make it miserable for them during a BRP workout, pavlov s dog says they are going to feel the same way when they go out on their own.

If there was any change to the system at all it would be my above two points. Find a leader that sets the example, can give good PT advice, can motivate and execute on actions, and track progress.

Response by CPT Dave Shephard made Jul 18 at 2014 12:42 PM

2014-07-18T12:42:46-04:00

I agree that the "over weight" program in the Army isn't very effective. I do however think there should be more effort to enforce, or revitalize, the standard before we look to revamp the standard. It would be frustrating for me to see an organization all of the sudden separate Soldiers for poor physical performance, instead it should be part of our culture from day 1.

I don't find fault with Soldiers who have had a history of being over weight and failing physically, I find fault with the system for allowing it. I would find it troubling for an organization to all of the sudden enforce standards that were loosely enforced previously.

But overall I think the standards are necessary, essential even. I don't agree that a Soldier can be good at his job and not at least be physically marginal. Part of a Soldier's job description is to be physically capable. He may be stellar at other parts of his job, but he is not a complete Soldier if he fails to uphold standards physically. Conversely, a Soldier who excels physically but performs poorly at his assigned tasks is not a good, nor a complete, Soldier.

Response by CPO Arthur Weinberger made Jun 6 at 2019 9:49 PM

2019-06-06T21:49:32-04:00

SGT(P) What you and your beloved are doing is absolutely marvelous. I was able to help some of my fellow veterans and civilians during my lifetime and still try.Weight has been a lifelong struggle for me and my family. Please continue to help. Thanks