The US Army 'fat camp' helping would-be recruits lose weight
The US Army is using a "fat camp" to help address its most severe recruiting crisis since the end of conscription 50 years ago.
The move is part of an experiment called the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, which has two strands - one helping those who failed academically and one helping would-be troops to lose weight, the latter having been dubbed "Army fat camp".
There is no shortage of applicants for Army training, but the problem is that just 23% of those aged 17 to 24 were eligible to serve, with others discounted due to their weight or lack of literacy or numeracy.
The aim is to upskill and downsize those who have failed to reach the mark, while also solving the Army's recruiting problem.
Last year, the US Army only managed to enlist 75% of the soldiers it needed but thousands more have already graduated thanks to the new assistance camps.
Forces News spoke to Alexia, a student who was desperate to join the army, but at 5 feet tall and weighing 113kg, she was well above the maximum percentage of body fat allowed - 18-26% for men and 26-34% for women dependent on height.
She said: "I really appreciate the drill sergeants pushing me and then also just being there, having the support, that's what really gets me.
"It's hard when you don't have the support, so coming here and having that was really nice for me.
"My parents support me, but it's not in the same way - they also struggled with weight, so they couldn't really help me.
"Having people that can help you and are pushing you - that was really nice for me."
Fort Jackson was instructed to set up the pilot in July last year.
In the first six months, it was so successful that a second battalion was created, and the army has now launched another course in Georgia.
"It's been incredibly successful - overwhelmingly so, I think, at times", said the Future Soldier Prep Course Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel R Hayes.
'It made us all take a look at ourselves'
He said the new ideas had been "intimidating" at first, adding: "I think part of it was because it was way outside a lot of our comfort zone going in.
"And there was a mindset change and discipline environment evolution that we had to go through here.
"And turning a 200-person organisation on a dime, in a couple of weeks to make that change was a challenge.
"It was an education piece on our part, realising that nutrition and good sleeping habits are a bigger impact on someone losing body fat in a healthy way.
"I would also say it made us all take a look at ourselves and invest more in each one of us to be better, as we are now the role models of who we want to help."
To date, only 3% of those starting the course have failed to make it. Almost 6,000 new soldiers who had originally failed to get into the army have already graduated.
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