Our Changing Army
Army Times
Lawmakers eye relaxed physical standards
by Rick Maze
Having shorter, rounder, slightly infirm people in the military may be better than having no one, according to congressional negotiators.
A provision of the 2000 defense authorization bill, approved August 5 by a House-Senate conference committee, shows the depth of concern among lawmakers about personnel shortages,
"We are at the edge of despair," said one aide involved in the agreement. "Nothing is rejected out-of-hand as an unreasonable approach because failure, complete failure to have enough people to get the job done, is a very real possibility."
The defense bill asks the Pentagon to consider relaxing physical and medical standards for recruiting and retention to make more people eligible to serve. In the report accompanying the defense bill, lawmakers said they realize the services need to have people in the ranks who "fight' and win the nation's wars."
But this does not mean current restrictions cannot be relaxed, the report says.
The report provides no examples of who might be eligible if the standards are relaxed. Congressional aides said they are thinking mostly about people with minor disabilities, such as diabetes, who could perform on active duty.
Height and weight standards could be modified, aides said.
"Persons with conditions heretofore considered disabilities today make significant contributions in all walks of life," the report says in recommending a review.