Top Army recruiter weighs slim-down camp for recruits
Story By: Associated Press
Source: AP
Published Mon Jan 12, 2009, 12:33 PM MST
Updated Mon Jan 12, 2009, 12:33 PM MST
The Army's top recruiter is thinking a fat farm might be a helpful recruiting tool. Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick, head of the Army Recruiting Command, says that's because so many overweight applicants have been rejected while the military is trying to increase its numbers.
According to Defense Department figures provided to the AP, over the past four years, more than 47,000 potential recruits flunked induction physicals due to weight. Bostick says he wants to see a formal diet and fitness regimen running alongside a new school at Fort Jackson, South Carolina,
that helps aspiring troops earn their GEDs.
Bostick said obesity looms as "a bigger challenge for us in the years ahead" than any other problem that keeps young people from entering the military.
