I’m not going out of my way to take a cheap shot at one of my Sister Services. But hey, Navy… if you let your ass hang out, don’t get pissed when someone takes a chunk out of it.
Keep in mind that not only do I have friends who served in the Navy, I’m also the son of a retired CPO (Chief Petty Officer).
And thank God my dad has passed away. In his words, he would have a veritable shit conniption if he found out that the Navy will now be giving a pass to those who fail their fitness test.
In all honesty, I never knew the Navy had a fitness test other than getting out of bed.
But in all fairness, allow me to say that the woke Marine Corps pisses me off, too.
When it comes to fitness, not all that long ago, the MAXIMUM body fat percentage for men was 18, regardless of age. In today’s new and shittier Marine Corps, dependent upon one’s age, a male Marine can now tip the scales at a Dress Blues busting 21 percent.
Let me be the Commandant for five minutes. I’d shitcan that worthless PFT (Physical Fitness Test) and replace it with EVERY Marine in your battalion/aviation group will annually complete a 20-mile force march (of course with full gear) in eight hours or less. At the end of a 30-minute break after said force march, the CFT (Combat Fitness Test) will immediately be administered.
One hundred percent passing rate. Only exceptions; any who’s Marine died or was booted with a less-than-honorable discharge or worse.
Any battalion/aviation group commander who fails will never, ever see another promotion… period. Of course, shit rolls downhill. Any offending company/squadron commanders won’t see any promotions in their particular futures.
But back to the topic at hand.
Other than being rated as the most obese of all the services, the latest brain-fart to come out from the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) is to keep fat-asses who can’t pass the Navy’s fitness test (events here).
After viewing what the Navy considers a physical fitness test, I’ve got to be honest. I’ve had bowel movements that were more exhaustive.
As reported by MilitaryTimes.com via Yahoo News;
Sailors with a physical fitness assessment failure on their record will receive a clean slate that will allow them to remain in the service, under a new Navy policy unveiled Thursday.
The shift is part of a Navy-wide campaign aimed at improving accessions, retention and attrition so the service can hit its end-strength goals for 2023, according to Rear Adm. James Waters III, director of military personnel, plans and policy.
“This is connected because it clearly affects attrition, right? It will reduce attrition if we do not separate sailors based on past PFA failures,” Waters told reporters Wednesday. “But it came about through all of the analysis for this campaign plan, through a recognition that we don’t want to punish sailors because gyms were closed during the pandemic. We don’t want to disadvantage sailors.”
This whole Navy fitness thing got me thinking. How is it that sailors of years ago managed to be fit, slim and trim?
I’m going to hazard a guess and say that certain things probably factored in varying degrees into the equation;
- When the ship took on stores, all-hands turned-to loading provisions. I mean everyone.
- Unless your particular rating was incumbent upon keeping your warship afloat and in fighting form, you were assigned to a gun crew, probably as an ammunition passer.
Granted, neither of the above noted by themselves are going to seen as pro-active means of keeping off the fat in the long term.
Yet I really do believe that the below cited certainly had/have made a difference in our troops being overweight;
- Back in the good old days, there was no Burger King, Domino’s Pizza or KFC aboard base. If you wanted a cheeseburger when the chow hall was closed, you either went off-base or swung by the bowling alley (gee-dunk, slopchute, whatever).
- Speaking of the chow hall, there was a day when chow halls and galleys served filling, nutritious and balanced meals.
Yes, it really is as simple as that.