of American kids too fat to join the Army?
Well, the actual figure is 27 percent of Americans are too overweight to join the military, but that’s just a detail. Whether the reason is too much fat, too little education, or a criminal record, 75 percent of American kids can not meet the minimum standards to join the military. That should be cause for rejoicing among the anti-war crowd. But, really, do we want to stop our kids from putting on a uniform by turning them into couch potatoes? Even among those kids who aren’t overweight, another 32 percent can’t enlist because of other health problems. Criminal records disbar another 10 percent. One-quarter of the draft-age population lacks a high-school diploma, and many of those who do can’t pass Army entrance exams. That only leaves about 20 percent of young people who can enlist without waivers or tutoring by recruiters. The Pentagon is worried that there won’t be sufficient manpower for a military that is already overstretched. But the 2000 census recorded some 39 million American
