68% Of US Service Members Are Obese Or Overweight

Senior Airman Christian Terrill, 445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron medical technician, demonstrates the proper techniques of doing a pushup for Senior Airman Billie Dunigan, also a 445th ASTS member, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in April 2017. (U.S. Air Force)  

Stars and Stripes: Nearly 70% of US troops are overweight or obese, research report says  

WASHINGTON — Almost seven out of every 10 U.S. troops are either overweight or obese, according to a new report, which also warns the growing trend could compromise military readiness and undermine national security. 

The American Security Project, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that studies modern national security issues, conducted the study and found 68% of active-duty service members fall somewhere between overweight and obese on the body mass index, which is a long-used but controversial method of assessing a person’s body classification by height and weight. 

A person between 25 and 30 on the BMI is considered clinically overweight and more than 30 is considered obese, according to the National Institutes of Health.  

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WNU Editor: 70% !?!?!?!?!? This is a staggering number. 

68% Of US Service Members Are Obese Or Overweight  

Nearly 70% of American soldiers are obese or overweight — compromising national security: study -- NYPost 

Study: Nearly 70 Percent of US Troops Are Overweight or Obese -- Newsmax  

Unfit To Fight: 68% Of US Service Members Obese Or Overweight -- Zero Hedge

More Calls From Former Air Force And Navy Fighter Pilots That They Are At A higher Risk Of Developing Cancer

Task & Purpose/McClatchy: 'We are dropping like flies' — Former fighter pilots are pushing the Pentagon for earlier cancer screenings

WASHINGTON — Former Air Force and Navy fighter pilots are calling on the military to begin cancer screenings for aviators as young as 30 because of an increase in deaths from the disease that they suspect may be tied to radiation emitted in the cockpit.

"We are dropping like flies in our 50s from aggressive cancers," said retired Air Force Col. Eric Nelson, a former F-15E Strike Eagle weapons officer. He cited prostate and esophageal cancers, lymphoma, and glioblastomas that have struck fellow pilots he knew, commanded or flew with.

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Previous Post: Are U.S. Air Force Fighter Pilots At Greater Risk For Prostate Cancer? (July 30, 2019)

WNU Editor: As the above graph shows, there definitely has been an increase in cancer over 20 years.

Are U.S. Air Force Fighter Pilots At Greater Risk For Prostate Cancer?

McClatchy News: Are fighter pilots at greater risk for prostate cancer? The Air Force is now asking

The Air Force has begun to look at whether there’s increased risk for prostate cancer among its fighter pilots. A new investigation by McClatchy shows just how serious the problem may be.

The fighter pilot study was requested by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein after he was contacted by concerned veterans service organizations in 2018, according to the report obtained by McClatchy.

At the heart of the Air Force study was a question of whether extended exposure in the cockpit to radiation may be linked to increased risk of prostate cancer.

The study said “pilots have greater environmental exposure to ultraviolet and ionizing radiation ... (fighter pilots) have unique intra-cockpit exposures to non-ionizing radiation.” The Air Force study was conducted by the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

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WNU Editor: Wow! That is a massive increase.

Report: America’s Obesity Is Threatening National Security

Army recruits march across Fort Jackson, S.C., June 13, 2015. (Sgt. Ken Scar/Army)

Army Times: America’s obesity is threatening national security, according to this study

It’s well known at this point that just under 30 percent of Americans ages 17 to 24 ― the prime age to join the Army ― aren’t eligible to join.

But beyond that, almost a third of those who sit down with a recruiter to take the first steps are immediately disqualified.

Why? Because of their weight.

“Out of all the reasons that we have future soldiers disqualify, the largest – 31 percent ― is obesity,” Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, head of Army Recruiting Command, said Wednesday at AUSA’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

A freshly published study, “Unhealthy and Unprepared” concludes that America’s rising numbers of overweight youth are going to have real impacts on the military’s ability to maintain effectiveness.

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WNU Editor: I hate to say this to my American readers, but in all of my travels I have found Americans to be the ones who have a serious obesity problem.

RAND Report: A Staggering Number Of U.S. Troops Are Fat And Tired

A 2018 Rand study highlighted the prevalence of sleep deprivation and the use of sleeping medication among service members. (Senior Airman Cliffton Dolezal/Air Force)

Military Times: A staggering number of troops are fat and tired, report says

A 2018 RAND report on health promotion and disease prevention has painted a grim picture of the military’s physical fitness and sleep standards.

The study, featuring roughly 18,000 randomly selected participants across each of the service branches, showed that almost 66 percent of service members are considered to be either overweight or obese, based on the military’s use of body mass index as a measuring standard.

While the number of overweight service members is a cause for concern, it correlates with the obesity epidemic plaguing the United States, where, as of 2015, one in three young adults are considered too fat to enlist, creating a difficult environment for recruiters to find suitable candidates for military service.

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WNU Editor: 66 percent of service members are considered to be either overweight or obese ?!?!?!? Wow. The report uses data from 3 years ago, but you have to wonder if it has gotten worse. The RAND report is here .... 2015 Health Related Behaviors Survey (RAND).

Is A Jungle Parasite From Southeast Asia Killing American Veterans Decades After The End Of The War?

Daily Mail: Vietnam's silent bullet: Terrifying study shows jungle parasite from Southeast Asia may be killing American veterans decades after end of the war

* Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare bile duct cancer that is killing Vietnam veterans
* Disease's origins believed to stem from ingesting raw or undercooked fish
* Small pilot study found out of 50 veterans tested, 20 percent were positive
* It can take decades for symptoms to appear and by then, patients are often in tremendous pain with just a few months to live

Half a century after serving in Vietnam, test results show some men may have been infected by a slow-killing parasite while fighting in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

The Department of Veterans Affairs this spring commissioned a small pilot study to look into the link between liver flukes ingested through raw or undercooked fish and a rare bile duct cancer.

It can take decades for symptoms to appear.

By then, patients are often in tremendous pain, with just a few months to live.

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WNU Editor: There are a lot of Vietnam vets who read this blog .... I suspect many of you are now wondering if you ate raw fish when you were deployed to Vietnam.

More News On Reports That A Jungle Parasite From Southeast Asia May Be Killing American Veterans Decades After The End Of The War

Hundreds of Vietnam Veterans May Be Infected With a Slow-Killing Parasitic Worm: Study -- Newsweek
What is liver fluke? Slow-killing parasite from Southeast Asian jungles could be responsible for death of Vietnam War vets -- International Business Times
Parasite from Vietnam could be killing war veterans -- Washington Times
Cancer In Vietnam War Veterans May Be Linked To Lethal Parasite From Southeast Asia -- Tech Times
Decades later, Vietnam vets may be silently fighting cancer-causing parasite -- Ars Technica

Will Firing Of Heavy Weapons Put Troops At Risk To Brain Injury

Coalition forces fire a Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle during a training exercise in Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2013. Spc. Justin Young/U.S. Department of Defense/DVIDS

NPR: Do U.S. Troops Risk Brain Injury When They Fire Heavy Weapons?

The U.S. military is trying to figure out whether certain heavy weapons are putting U.S. troops in danger.

The concern centers on the possibility of brain injuries from shoulder-fired weapons like the Carl Gustaf, a recoilless rifle that resembles a bazooka and is powerful enough to blow up a tank.

A single round for the Carl Gustaf can weigh nearly 10 pounds. The shell leaves the gun's barrel at more than 500 miles per hour. And as the weapon fires, it directs an explosive burst of hot gases out of the back of the barrel.

For safety reasons, troops are trained to take positions to the side of weapons like this. Even so, they get hit by powerful blast waves coming from both the muzzle and breech.

"It feels like you get punched in your whole body," is the way one Army gunner described the experience in a military video made in Afghanistan. "The blast bounces off the ground and it overwhelms you."

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WNU Editor: My gut tells me that the answer will be yes.

Thousands Of U.S. Soldiers Who Served In Iraq And Afghanistan May Have Been Exposed To Hazardous Chemicals From Open-Air Burn Pits

A U.S. Army soldier watches bottled water burn at Forward Operating Base Azzizulah in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on Feb. 4, 2013. Photo by Andrew Burton/Reuters

Star Tribune: Iraq, Afghan vets may have their own Agent Orange

While it took nearly three decades for the U.S. government to eventually link Agent Orange, the defoliant used in Vietnam, to cancer, President Obama has pledged quick action to make determinations about the effect of the burn pits on perhaps as many as 60,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

ROCHESTER – They are known as the Agent Orange of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: Massive open-air burn pits at U.S. military bases that billowed the toxic smoke and ash of everything from Styrofoam, metals and plastics to electrical equipment and even human body parts.

The flames were stoked with jet fuel.

One of the most notorious was in Balad, site of the largest and busiest air base operated by the military in Iraq. More than 10 acres in size, the pit burned at all hours and consumed an estimated 100 to 200 tons of waste a day. It was hastily constructed upwind from the base, and its plumes consistently drifted toward the 25,000 troops stationed there.

During two deployments to Balad with the Minnesota Air National Guard, Amie Muller worked and lived next to the pits. And now, she believes, she is paying the price.

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WNU Editor: Here is a photo essay on the burn its in Iraq and Afghanistan .... Photo essay: The burn pits of Iraq and Afghanistan (PBS News Hour).

U.S. Army Wages War Against Soldier's Bad Habits

Col. Deydre Teyhen, left, director, Health and Wellness for the Office of the Surgeon General, and her deputy, Col. Tawanna McGhee, right, discuss the benefits of better nutrition with Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., 1st Inf. Div., and Fort Riley commanding general. When it comes to food, Teyhen wants the Army to make the healthy choice the easy and convenient choice. (Photo: Maj. Fredrick O. Williams/Army)

Army Times: Army looks to outsmart soldiers' bad habits

You wouldn’t think that moving the salad bar to the front of the chow hall and moving the dessert bar back 10 feet would make the Army healthier. But at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, that bumped up salad sales about 24 percent and dessert sales down 10 percent, a nudge toward goals of soldiers eating, exercising and sleeping healthier.

That’s just an example of the kind of change Army Medical Command hopes to inspire and successes it hopes to share across installations through its first annual Health of the Force report.

“I’m pretty proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with this inaugural report," said Col. Deydre Teyhen during a recent roundtable at Defense Health Agency headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. "I think we can’t get to a better state of health unless we inform people of what’s working out there in the field."

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WNU Editor: For someone who likes to smoke, drink pop, eat candy/chocolate bars/dessert, stay up at night, and shun exercise .... the U.S. Army is not for you.

The U.S. Military's Health Plan Must Now Cover Breast Pumps

Photo: Wikipedia

McCaskill Bill Would Require Military Health Plan To Cover Breast Pumps -- Washington Post

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) this week introduced a bill that would require the military’s health insurance program to cover breastfeeding equipment and counseling, just as the Affordable Care Act mandates for most insurance plans.

Under the health law, widely known as Obamacare, insurance companies must cover breast-pump rental or give the equipment to new mothers, in addition to providing lactation counseling and support. But the military’s coverage, TRICARE, leaves armed-forces personnel and their spouses to pay the full costs for those services out of pocket unless their children are born prematurely and meet other criteria.

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My Comment: This is not your grandfather's army.

Did U.S. Sailors Get Cancer After Being Exposed To Radiation From Fukushima While Helping Japan After The March 2011 Tsunami Disaster?

Sickened By Service: More US Sailors Claim Cancer From Helping At Fukushima -- FOX News

When the USS Ronald Reagan responded to the tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, Navy sailors including Quartermaster Maurice Enis gladly pitched in with rescue efforts.

But months later, while still serving aboard the aircraft carrier, he began to notice strange lumps all over his body. Testing revealed he'd been poisoned with radiation, and his illness would get worse. And his fiance and fellow Reagan quartermaster, Jamie Plym, who also spent several months helping near the Fukushima nuclear power plant, also began to develop frightening symptoms, including chronic bronchitis and hemorrhaging.

They and 49 other U.S. Navy members who served aboard the Reagan and sister ship the USS Essex now trace illnesses including thyroid and testicular cancers, leukemia and brain tumors to the time spent aboard the massive ship, whose desalination system pulled in seawater that was used for drinking, cooking and bathing. In a lawsuit filed against Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plaintiffs claim the power company delayed telling the U.S. Navy the tsunami had caused a nuclear meltdown, sending huge amounts of contaminated water into the sea and, ultimately, into the ship's water system.

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My Comment: 50 sailors are sick right now .... if a few hundred more cases occur in the next year or two one cannot help help but feel that there must be a linkage.

Mental Illness In The Military Continues To Be A Growing Problem

US soldiers at the Bagram airfield north of Kabul (Reuters/Ahmad Masood)

Mental Health Leading Cause Of Military Hospital Stays -- USA Today

Through 2012, mental illness in the military took up more days for hospitalization than any other mental or physical problems, including war wounds, accidents, illness or pregnancies.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and other mental illnesses accounted for more days spent by troops in the hospital than any other medical condition in the military in 2012, including war wounds, injuries and illness, according to Pentagon data.

The numbers show how years of exposure to combat trauma created a core of servicemembers with severe mental health problems — about 20,000 last year — who accounted for more lost workdays than those with any other health issue.

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My Comment: These statistics are sobering ..... mental illness in the military took up more days for hospitalization than any other mental or physical problems, including war wounds, accidents, illness or pregnancies.

The Dangers Of Burn Pits In Afghanistan

A burn pit smolders near Camp Leatherneck, a U.S. Marine base in Afghanistan's Helmand province. Courtesy SIGAR

Toxic Trash Threatens Marines In Afghanistan, Government Report Shows -- NBC

Military leaders may be endangering the health of 13,500 Marines and civilians at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan by burning toxic trash in an open-air pit while choosing not to safely dispose of the waste inside four new, on-base incinerators that cost $11.5 million, says a government report released Thursday.

An inspector general, authorized by Congress to oversee reconstruction efforts and spending in Afghanistan, sent an “alert letter” Thursday to the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Lloyd Austin, revealing that the smoldering crater violates Pentagon regulations and should be doused “as quickly as possible.”

“There are health concerns associated with breathing the smoke emissions from open-air burning,” wrote John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General For Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). “The toxic smoke from burning solid waste each day increases the long-term health risks for camp personnel, including reduced lung function and exacerbated chronic illnesses, ranging from asthma to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”

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More News On The Dangers Of Burn Pits In Afghanistan

Burn pit at U.S. Marine base in Afghanistan poses health risk -inspector -- Reuters
Military burn pits at Afghanistan base may pose health risk to troops, report says -- FOX News/AP
Report shows open-air burn pits still used at bases -- USA Today
IG report: Camp Leatherneck burn pit may endanger health -- Air Force Times
More Waste Uncovered at US Base in Afghanistan -- Voice of America
Report: Health Alert Issued in Afghanistan Over Waste Disposal -- Washington Free Beacon

U.S. Troops Are Losing Their Hearing

A Marine takes an audiogram test on Camp Pendleton, Calif., on July 13, 2011.

Khoa Pelczar/Marine Corps

Troops' Hearing Is Often A Casualty Of Fighting, Training -- Stars And Stripes/The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer

FORT BRAGG -- On his two deployments to Iraq with the 18th Airborne Corps, Spec. Jon Michael Cripps spent more time keeping the Army’s computers running than he did in combat, but he can’t forget what he heard.

The constant roar of generators along with the hum of computer servers and the high-powered air conditioners required to cool them damaged Cripps’ hearing and left an intermittent ringing in his ears.

“You think about maybe getting wounded in battle, getting those kinds of scars,” Cripps said after his annual hearing test at a health center on post recently. “Losing your hearing is just not something you think about.”

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My Comment: My father blamed the lost of most of his hearing from serving as a Soviet soldier in the Second World War. Because of his math degree he found himself always commanding artillery companies .... well .... artillery does produce a lot of noise .... both outgoing and incoming when the enemy has figured out where you are. It became a standard joke in our family .... we never talked to each other .... what we did was always yell at each other.

Strange .... it was always very frustrating at the time .... but now .... after reading this story and remembering those days .... I miss it (my father passed away in 2005).

Is There A Link Between Higher Breast Cancer Rates And Serving In The Military?

Photo: Warrior: 'The dog tags and camouflage are real. I am still active duty,' said Barbie, as she posed for the Scar Project to raise awareness about breast cancer

Mystery Of Soaring Breast Cancer Rates Among Women AND Men In U.S. Armed Forces... But Government STILL Won't Cover Treatment -- Daily Mail

A startling percentage of servicemembers have been diagnosed with breast cancer and experts have not been able to determine why.

Historically, rates of cancer among military members have been relatively low compared to the rest of the population, especially for diseases like lung, cervical and colorectal cancers.

But for some reason, more and more men and women in the armed forces have been diagnosed with breast cancer at young ages, as female soldiers are 20 to 40 per cent more likely to get the disease.

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Update: Alarming breast cancer rates among troops -- Army Times

My Comment: Not everyone is in agreement that there is a link between higher breast cancer rates and serving in the military.

U.S. Defense Department To Review All Military Mental Health Cases Dating To 2001

DoD Orders Review Of Mental Health Diagnoses -- Marine Times

The Defense Department plans to review all military mental health cases dating to 2001 to ensure troops were not denied appropriate diagnoses or service-related benefits, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.

At a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Panetta said he ordered the service chiefs to review the case files of all current and former troops who were screened for medical separation by a medical evaluation board for mental health issues.

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More News On The Defense Department Reviewing All Military Mental Health Cases Dating To 2001

Pentagon chief orders review of mental diagnoses -- Nola.com/AP
Panetta orders military-wide review of mental health cases -- The Hill
Panetta: 'Huge gaps' in military's review of mental health cases -- Miami Herald/McClatchy News
Pentagon chief orders all military to review mental diagnoses -- Stars and Stripes

My Comment: This is going to be a huge undertaking .... but necessary.

Trying To Keep U.S. Soldiers Bodies Fit And Able

Captain Odom, left, rested in a helicopter after treating 13 soldiers. Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times

Tending To Bodies Near The Breaking Point -- New York Times

COMBAT OUTPOST RAHMAN KHEL, Afghanistan — Each week, Capt. Rachel Odom takes off in a helicopter to fly to yet another distant military outpost of this mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan to patch the troops in her care back together.

One recent morning, 13 soldiers came to visit her in the small wooden medical hut of a 100-man camp near the village of Rahman Khel, cradled by the snow-tipped mountains of Paktia Province near the Pakistani border. One after another, the soldiers told her of their twisted knees, back pains or shoulder strains — the increasingly familiar-sounding toll of a long war.

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My Comment: Her work is more prevention than treatment .... making sure that stretched muscles do not become torn and ripped Either way .... I suspect that her services and care are deeply appreciated and another indication on how much the U.S. military has changed after 10 years of constant warfare.

Study Pinpoints Brain Damage In Vets Similar To Football Injuries

Drs. Lee E. Goldstein and Ann McKee, authors of a paper on chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times

Brain Ailments In Veterans Likened To Those In Athletes -- New York Times

Scientists who have studied a degenerative brain disease in athletes have found the same condition in combat veterans exposed to roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, concluding that such explosions injure the brain in ways strikingly similar to tackles and punches.

The researchers also discovered what they believe is the mechanism by which explosions damage brain tissue and trigger the wasting disease, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., by studying simulated explosions on mice. The animals developed evidence of the disease just two weeks after exposure to a single simulated blast, researchers found.

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More News On Brain Ailments In Veterans Likened To Those In Athletes

New study links exposure to even a single bomb blast to serious life-long brain disease -- Stars and Stripes
Report: Single Bomb Blast Causes Soldiers NFL-like Brain Trauma -- US News and World Report
'Blast Wind' Linked to Chronic Brain Injuries in Military -- US News and World Report
Explosions cause brain damage through head movement -- New Scientist
Boston scientists lead team that pinpoints brain damage in vets similar to football injuries -- Boston.com
Study links athletic, military brain injuries -- CBS/AP
Soldiers' brain damage similar to football players', study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy shows -- CBS
Veterans exposed to explosions may be at risk for dementia -- USA Today
Signs of brain disease found in soldiers exposed to IEDs -- CTV

Report: U.S. Troops Are Stressed To The Breaking Point

Troops Stressed To Breaking Point -- Washington Times

Report cites sustained combat, redeployments.

A recent Army health report draws an alarming profile of a fighting force more prone to inexcusable violence amid an “epidemic” of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the mental breakdown attracting speculation as a factor in a massacre of Afghan civilians this month.

Based on an exhaustive study of nearly 500,000 soldiers, reservists and veterans, the report finds that troops are more likely to commit suicide and violent sex offenses, and notes that as many as 236,000 suffered from PTSD since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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My Comment: I know exactly what they mean when they say that sustain combat has a profound impact on the mental health of soldiers. My father served for 4 years on the Russian front in the Second World War .... and I can honestly say that it was only when he retired and started to enjoy life in his early seventies .... (50+ years) after the war .... that he started to forget about the war. My Godfather was not so lucky ... he committed suicide 17 years after the war .... he could never reconcile with what he had experienced in the conflict.

Bottom line .... it will be years before most of our veterans who experienced sustain combat are able to recover from it .... and some .... unfortunately .... will not. But by recognizing this problem we are taking a big step in helping our veterans .... because believe me .... they will need it.

What Medical Reasons Will Stop A U.S. Soldier From Going Into Combat?

Afghan Local Police and members of coalition special operations forces load an ALP member needing medical care onto an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a medical evacuation in Shah Joy district, Zabul province, Afghanistan, Jan. 27. Helicopters provide the fastest way to transport personnel with medical needs from rural areas of Afghanistan to medical facilities located at larger coalition bases. Dvids

What Injuries Stop A Soldier From Going Into Combat? -- L.A. Times

Robert Bales, the U.S. staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians, reportedly suffered a concussive head injury on an earlier tour in Iraq. But his attorney says he was found suitable for redeployment. What kind of injuries stop a member of the Army from being sent into combat again?

The rules are lengthy and complicated. Medical problems stop some people from heading into combat in the first place: Before they enlist, U.S. Army soldiers are screened by physicians hired by the military.

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My Comment: I guess Cpl. Klinger had a point.