Assessing Fitness for Military Enlistment Physical, Medical, and Mental Health Standards (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
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In this context, the Committee on Youth Population and Military Recruitment: Physical, Medical, and Mental Health Standards was established to examine the health and fitness of American youth as they relate to current screening enlistment standards and to assess the validity of these standards for predicting attrition and injury in training and on the job. The charge to the committee consists of four related tasks designed to provide the DoD with guidance on physical, medical, and mental health standards for use in selecting members of the enlisted force.
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At the present time there are no military enlistment standards for physical fitness; fitness tests are administered at the beginning of, and at different points during, basic training.
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Thus, the currently recommended BMI enlistment standard used by DoD and most of the Services of 25 or under for young women could lead to disqualification of 40 percent of them from the pool of eligible recruits, while the currently recommended BMI standard of 27.5 percent for young men could lead to disqualification of approximately 25 percent of them from the pool. Asthma Asthma is one of the most common chronic illnesses in the United States.
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Estimates of the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder range from 7 to 16 percent of youth, and the rates are two to three times higher for boys than for girls. Recent evidence demonstrates that childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
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Approximately 6 percent of applicants are initially disqualified on the basis of a positive test for marijuana during the physical examination at the military entrance processing station. Tobacco Use Preservice smoking is of interest because of its demonstrated relationship with early attrition during the first term of military service.
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The committee therefore accepted the policy that military service itself requires a minimum level of physical fitness for all uniformed Service members. As noted in Department of Defense Instruction 1308.3, "It is DoD policy that physical fitness is essential to combat readiness and is an important part of the general health and well-being for Armed Forces personnel." Evaluating Standards Task 3: Review the literature on the predictive validity of medical and physical selection standards for training and job performance in the military and in the civilian population.
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Fitness As noted earlier, there are no enlistment standards for physical fitness; however, data are available on the relationship between different levels of physical fitness, as measured in basic training, and injury and attrition. Musculoskeletal injuries resulting from basic and advanced individual training pose the single most significant medical impediment to military readiness.
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It is likely that individuals without symptoms for a prolonged period of time, or even those with mild and infrequent symptoms, could carry out their service requirements, especially if they received optimal medical therapy and self-management education. However, there are costs associated with ensuring timely access of personnel to needed medical therapies and making self-management education available.
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tailor the demands of basic training to the fitness levels of recruits. Recommendations aimed primarily at reducing attrition involve obtaining better information about recruits' mental health status via the use of a brief self-report of mental symptoms at the military entrance processing station, accompanied by a brief mental status exam by a physician.
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The committee concluded its earlier study of the role of youth attitudes toward the military and of aptitude and educational standards by noting that recruiting is a complex process, with no single route toward achieving recruiting goals. We end here with the same conclusion.
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