The United States Army took a serious hit to recruitment last year, something they’re trying to come back from by expanding a program to prepare out-of-shape applicants for basic training.
As the world stares down Russian and Chinese aggression, military preparedness is at the forefront of the country’s mind. Unfortunately, 2022 saw the Army fail to meet its 60,000 soldier enlistment goal by a shocking 15,000. In an effort to bolster its numbers, top brass announced the expansion of the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, a boot camp for out-of-shape recruits who want to meet the fitness requirements maintained by the military.
The program will feature three extra companies in hopes to whip those who may not have normally made the cut into shape before basic.
According to Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, the military is not sacrificing quality for quantity with this program, but is simply allowing otherwise underqualified applicants to meet their “unrealized potential.” It is specifically aimed at candidates who don’t meet the weight requirements and have 2-6 percent more body fat than the Army deems acceptable.
The flabby recruits will have access to dieticians, athletic coaches and physical therapists, but the deal is not as sweet as one might think. Applicants only have 90 days to become physically fit enough to test out of the program or they are kicked out of the course.
While this may seem harsh, a whopping 93 percent of last year’s 3,206 candidates in the pilot version of the program graduated to basic training, totaling 2,965 new enlistments. These encouraging numbers prompted the Army to add two more companies at Fort Jackson.
Lt. Gen Xavier Brunson explained in September that the recruiting crisis stems from many of the cultural problems America is currently facing.
“Some of the challenges we have are obesity, we have pre-existing medical conditions, we have behavioral health problems, we have criminality, people with felonies, and we have drug use,” he said.
Critics also wonder if the woke policies and vaccine mandates adopted by the United States military might discourage recruitment.
As American Wire previously reported, Republicans threatened to block the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act unless the military agreed to purge woke policies and drop COVID-19 vaccination demands.
“The Department of Defense COVID-19 vaccine mandate has ruined the livelihoods of men and women who have honorably served our country. As of April 2022, approximately 3,400 troops have been discharged from the military for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. While the Department of Defense certainly must make decisions that will bolster military readiness, the effects of the mandate are antithetical to readiness of our force, and the policy must be revoked,” read a letter from the GOP to Senate leaders.
A separate letter sent by Reps. Chip Roy, Andy Biggs, Bob Good, and Barry Moore ripped leftist policies that have made their way into the military’s list of priorities.
“[T]he NDAA should not authorize a single dollar for green climate projects nor radical diversity, equity, and inclusion indoctrination measures. It is imperative that provisions advancing a radical social agenda are removed before the NDAA moves forward,” they warned.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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