Troops 'too fat' to fight in Afghanistan
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
Britain's war effort in Afghanistan is being hindered by a number of frontline troops too fat to fight, according to a leaked Army memo.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed today it had directed military chiefs to ensure units are following Army fitness policy after concerns were raised over a "worrying trend of obesity".
The Army needs to "reinvigorate a warrior ethos and a culture of being fit", according to the leaked memo apparently sent to all Army units and obtained by the Observer newspaper.
The memo from Major Brian Dupree, of the Army physical training corps in Wiltshire, said basic fitness policy "is not being carried out".
Units were routinely failing to fulfil the Army's basic fitness regime of two hours of physical exercise a week, he added.
The memo leaked to the paper said: "The numbers of personnel unable to deploy and concerns about obesity throughout the Army are clearly linked to current attitudes towards physical training."
There are 3,860 Army personnel classified as PUD - personnel unable to deploy - with a further 8,190 regarded as being of "limited deployability" for medical reasons, it was reported.
Major Dupree added: "The current Army fitness policy states that to be fit to fight requires a minimum of two to three hours of physical activity per week. It is clear that even this most basic policy is not being implemented.
"To cope with the demands of hybrid operations in Afghanistan and future conflicts the Army needs personnel with that battle-winning edge that sustains them through adversity. It is clear this message has been diluted recently and this attitude must change.
"The increasing PUD list and concerns over obesity in the services are clearly linked to this indifferent attitude."
An MoD spokesman said: "Following a review of recent evidence, direction has been given to the chain of command to take action to ensure units are following the Army's fitness policy."
The revelations came on the day a hard-hitting report on British efforts in the war-torn country by a committee of MPs was published.
Since deploying to Afghanistan in 2001, the UK has suffered from "significant mission creep" with an ever-growing list of responsibilities, including drugs, human rights and state-building, which have made it more difficult for the Government to explain the purpose of Britain's mission, said the report by the cross-party House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
what is the trans afghan pipeline?
http://ringnebula.com/Oil/Timeline.htm
May 15, 2001
Regarding the placement of the Unocal Pipeline, a US Official delivered this ultimatum to the Taliban (via the Pakistani delegation acting as their interlocutors): "Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs."
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7332
FBI Whistleblower: Bin Laden & Taliban Worked for US to 9/11
Edmonds expert fills in details from recent interview with noted, gagged FBI translator/whistleblower. In the interview, Sibel says that the US maintained 'intimate relations' with Bin Laden, and the Taliban, "all the way until that day of September 11."
The Army which sets such store by regimental and military history seems to have forgotten an important lesson that war has taught them. This combined with New Labour's insistence that 'we' can 'win' flies in the face of other lessons that military history in Afghanistan has taught us and yet the government still likes to flex its military muscle to impress the USA.
Ask six New Labour MPs as to why we are in Afghanistan and you will hear six different reasons ranging from 'The War on Terrorism', 'making Britain's streets safe', 'enabling muslim girls to go to school', 'upholding human rights' and even 'to fight (islamic) facism'. And all points in between.
The soldiers can be made battle fit but it seems that pride, hubris, arrogance cannot be beaten out of New Labour. Instead it is being beaten out of our soldiers in lieu.
Sad to relate, but the DVD is no longer availabe but it's best song, Too Fat To Frug can be downloaded from www.myspace.com/edotoole2
I am going to recommend to O'Toole that he contacts the armed forces and sorts them out. He could become some kind of hero and get a medal for it.
Funny how we have entrusted the nastiest chemical companies on this planet with our food and health...no wonder everything is sick and dying....for the greedy few they will kill and mame millions of people....I am so sick and tired of the whole GD mess...when are we going to stand up for ourselves and demand better because this is horse crap all the way around being forced into their mad science.