Overweight troops are costing the Pentagon more than $1 billion a year
That's the equivalent cost of 52 Apache attack helicopters going down the drain every year.
By Paul Szoldra December 30, 2020
That sailor getting an extra piece of cake in the galley or the soldier stretching the limits of his or her uniform buttons are apparently costing the Pentagon a hefty chunk of change, according to a report issued this month by the Congressional Research Service.
How much exactly? More than $1.2 billion each year in “higher healthcare spending and lower productivity,†according to the report, which references a study describing a “link between those with high weight and body fat and lower job performance in some military occupations.â€
Indeed, the referenced study found that 80 percent of recruits who exceeded “weight-for-height standards but subsequently entered the military because they passed the standards later or received a waiver†left the military before finishing their first enlistment.
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