SYRACUSE -- According to the Centers for Disease Control, 31.2 million Americans are considered unfit to enlist in the military because of physical or mental issues. When it comes to getting people enlisted, that is a challenge the Army has to face.
Sergeant First Class Daniel Gonci says, “You see if everyday when you're out and about. It used to be, 20 years ago, when I was a kid, only one in 20 was overweight and now we're up to one out of four.”
Sergeant Gonci says they don’t have a problem getting people in the doors. He says they have a lot of people who want to enlist. But sometimes, he has to turn them away because of the weight requirement. “When only one in four meets within the weight, it troubles us because we have a harder time working through everything.” That weight requirement has been in place for years and it is not about to change.
In the 2009 fiscal year, the Army did meet their requirement according to an article in ArmyTimes.com. According to the Pentagon, 35% of the population is ineligible to enlist.
Sergeant Gonci knows this isn’t a military problem. He knows overweight Americans are an issue we all have to deal with. To help, the Army Recruitment office in Syracuse has done educational programs with schools showing students how to eat healthy and get exercise.
