SeattleSilver wrote:
Thing of it is, our physical fitness requirements were degraded long before 'wokeness', because the demographic of Americans we relied on for recruits were increasingly lazy, fat, unmotivated and out of shape.
The image of our recruits being tough guy, chiseled conservatives is mostly a myth. Most of the folks enlisting just don't have good alternatives.
Yea, people always have these biases. The minimum standard has always been pretty low for a regular military recruit. It hasn't degraded, it has stayed the same for decades. I would say it's actually tougher to join up now because you have to "pass" a physical test (OPAT) before enlisting. How many of these are pencil whipped I have no idea but it is pretty easy to pass.
The current Army PT test, the ACFT is MUCH harder to max than the old APFT only because it requires you to have more than just endurance.
In reality the regular Army just needs capable bodies willing to learn and take direction. Nothing more, nothing less.
Alan