[randycupertino]

Lucky for us Pete Hegseth declared war on "fat generals and admirals" and is going to end fat troops and increase fitness standards! /s

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5528556-hegseth-warrior-e...

> “Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he said. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country and the world.”

“It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are,” he continued.

> “I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape, or in a combat unit with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men” Hegseth said.

[defrost]

I was told he also promised a throwing axe for every grunt and to rid the world of the scourge of marching bands.

[BobaFloutist]

It's so funny because obviously yes there are benefits to fitness in even a 2026 military, but a huge advantage of guns is that you don't have to be in peak physical condition to kill people pretty effectively, tanks and subs take it even further, and by the time we get to modern drone warfare a gaming couch potato can be as effective as your favorite football player.

Sure, sometimes you need a human being to sneak behind enemy lines to get in range for the drone, but that's not gonna involve a ton of sprinting anyway!

[dinkumthinkum]

What about what he said is incorrect? I don't know, maybe you are not familiar with the U.S. military. You can many videos produced by the military under Biden of even significantly overweight drill instructors in the Marine Corps, for instance. I don't know if this is part of the "healthy at any size" thing or what.

[randycupertino]

I guess I expected him to be calling all those generals and admirals with decades of combat, command and special forces experience together for something more substantive like policy changes vs an unhinged coked up rant boiling down to "no fatties!"

He's also rebranding to a macho aesthetic, encouraging bringing back hazing, tossing bunks, "shark attacks" and drill sergeants putting hands on recruits. I'm no expert but maybe if we're having trouble recruiting we shouldn't lead with ways to make military life suck even more?

[jrs235]

Who'd of thunk that rebranding to the Department of War might also cause folks to reconsider signing up...

[TimorousBestie]

> I don't know if this is part of the "healthy at any size" thing or what.

It’s not, that’s silly.

It turns out that it’s kind of hard to establish uniform physical fitness standards at scale! They have to be cheap to implement and easy to execute in a wide range of environments.

No one can agree on how much fitness a soldier needs to be minimally effective, but you know for sure every stakeholder has a strong and incorrect opinion on it. Oh, and if you raise the bar too high, you won’t meet your enlistment goals, and readiness suffers.