The United States of America’s Army is aligned with the soldiers’ quality physical fitness, enabling them to enforce measures that can be used to assess these parameters. The Army Body Composition Program has been developed and is composed of different testing done on American soldiers. The evaluation of their physical shape is essential for consistently evaluating the soldier’s ability to serve in the military service. However, there are several claims that the existing Army Body Composition Program needs to assess soldiers’ body composition and physical shape appropriately constantly. The incomplete evaluation of the army body composition raises several challenges for different soldiers to have the ability to continue with their careers in the military. Thus, the American soldiers’ physical shape and body composition should be more accurately evaluated. It is because several soldiers are physically fit but do not meet the program’s criteria, which is why modifications should be done to this program for such individuals to be tapped in to calculate their body fat. Hence, this persuasive essay will focus on assessing the existing Army Body Composition Program and presenting different ways that can be used to enhance the testing of American soldiers based on the notion of altered physiology of people.
First, the supervisor in the Army must always ensure that soldiers are safeguarded in different ways and that they are in a position to offer quality service. One of these ways that are used to protect soldiers is the Army Body Fat Composition Program. Every soldier in the Amy must adhere to similar weight standards and be directed to the program when overweight. This gives soldiers a quality weight that allows them to be productive and have the continuity of military service (Tedford, 2019). However, a few people know that the Army has a program that assists different soldiers who do not meet the required height and weight. Studies have shown that recruiting an individual for the Army is problematic because 20% of male and 40% of female recruits are too heavy for them to be involved and incorporated into different military ranks (Shams‐White et al., 2020). Thus, the supervisor must be versant with the Army’s over-weight program and know how it should be used. However, a challenge can be encountered in cases where the supervisor is not well-versed in the process, which can cause many adverse effects on overweight soldiers (Nelson et al., 2019). Therefore, it indicates that the supervisor is the first person who should be well versed in this Army Body Fat Composition Program to assist overweight soldiers in acquiring the right weight and consistently serving in the military.
When soldiers are in the Army, they must take approximately four physical tests annually. Upon completion of the physical tests, they will be weighed. It is usually correct that height and weight should be calculated when a physical fitness test has been done. Thus, the taller an individual is, the more they weigh (Shams‐White et al., 2020). This indicates why some soldiers are physically fit but do not meet the criteria for this program, as they are considered overweight instead of understanding that their weight concurs with their height.
Consequently, age is another factor that influences how one weighs. As one ages, they tend to reduce in weight because their metabolic activities reduce, which can be a composing issue on the ability of the soldier to continue serving in the military (Tedford, 2019). Therefore, when a soldier meets the height and weight standards required by the program, he will not be required to attend the Army’s over-weight program. However, when one is above their expected weight, they will have to be tapped, and measurements of the abdomen and neck for males and those of the female’s stomach, neck, and buttocks are done. Upon achievement of that measurement, their percentage is calculated. When the achieved percentage is above the expected amount that the soldier should have, he will be regarded as overweight and have to go through the program and attain quality weight (Nelson et al., 2019). Therefore, the supervisor has to know different areas to tape and how the percentage should be calculated because it is an essential element in the Army that can ruin the soldier’s career if not done correctly. Thus, instances where the soldier is physically fit but does not meet the criteria for the program, can be eradicated when the Army supervisor knows what he requires of him and how he should accomplish it.
Furthermore, it has been obtained that the Army Body Composition Program depends on normal body circumference measurements to assess the body fat composition of the soldier in his system. However, several studies have argued that this program is unfair and falsely represents the soldier’s body composition. It has been obtained that some accurate models of measurements can be used to ensure that physically fit people meet the program’s criteria. These proper methods are Bioelectric Impedance Analysis, hydrostatic testing, and skin fold method. Bioelectric Impedance Analysis is appropriate because it measures body composition by assessing the electric current flow rate in the specific body fat and muscle mass (Tedford, 2019). This technique can offer accurate results, thus enabling soldiers to have the results they deserve and increasing their ability to serve in the military. Skin fold test is also an appropriate measure because it can assess the quantity of fat deposition of fat in the body.
Moreover, it is a simple and quick method that provides a quality estimation of body fat. Despite those techniques being preferred to be appropriate, several factors have influenced the decision-making of the leaders in the military to use them (Shams‐White et al., 2020). Those factors are the cost, availability, accuracy, and reliability of these proposed methods upon their decision to use them. Hence, it is obtained that when quality measurement methods are incorporated into the Army Body Composition Program, it will be easier for all soldiers to receive appropriate measurements and allow them to serve in the military consistently.
Nonetheless, it is obtained that the authorized model that can be used to assess the soldier’s body composition is the circumference measurement. Per the soldiers’ age and height, their body composition is calculated and compared with their predetermined chart. However, there have been several disagreements that this technique is inappropriate for estimating body composition because it needs to be more accurate and updated (Tedford, 2019). Despite those disagreements, some benefits of using it are that it is easy to administer and cost-effective. Therefore, this kind of measurement can be considered inaccurate because it measures the fat composition in an individual’s body and can make some of the soldiers who have participated in it lose their careers because they can be graded to be overweight (Nelson et al., 2019). Therefore, the program should be fixed because instances have been encountered where they eliminate soldiers that are physically fit but have not met the criteria offered by the program.
Consequently, the U.S. military has noticed the imperfections present in the waist circumflexion, which has made the U.S. Air Force and Navy use different tools when doing those measurements. The Naval Health Research Center has been on the frontline to find other techniques that can be used to enhance the reliability and accuracy of the analysis of the Body Composition Program (Nelson et al., 2019). It offered the effectiveness of using the single abdominal Circumference instead of the circumference measurement. The National Institute of Health and Air Force implements the usage of a single Abdominal Circumference taken from the superior border of the iliac crest and evaluates the body composition. Despite the usage of this technique, The Naval Health Research Center recommends that the umbilicus should be used as the preferred site for abdominal Circumference because it is easier to identify and less invasive (Tedford, 2019). When this proposal is implemented, it will be helpful for the enforcement of new and accurate measurements that can be used to assess the physical shape and body composition of U.S. soldiers. It will eradicate cases where some physically active soldiers are being eliminated because they do not meet some of the required standards.
Conclusively, accurate measurements of the soldiers’ physical shape and body composition are essential for the military. It is necessary for U.S. soldiers to be having good body composition and appropriate physical shape. It will allow them to execute different military operations properly and have continuity in their career. Moreover, the Army supervisor should be able to know various programs that should be offered to soldiers who are overweight, and they should be given first preference. Suppose the case supervisor is unfamiliar with the Army Body Fat Composition Program (Shams‐White et al., 2020). In that case, it will be considered useless for the soldier because it will not work to ensure that the soldier has appropriate weight. However, it should be understood that existing standards for body composition are not adequate and accurate. It shows that inaccurate measurements can result in negative outcomes like the loss of qualified and valuable staff in instances where the existing measurements and tests have high standards that do not align with the physical changes that occur in a normal person. Thus, they should be updated to ensure that all physically fit soldiers are tapped in military operations.
References
Nelson, R., Cheatham, J., Gallagher, D., Bigelman, K., & Thomas, D. M. (2019). Revisiting the United States Army body composition standards: a receiver operating characteristic analysis. International Journal of Obesity, 43(8), 1508–1515. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-018-0195-x
Shams‐White, M. M., Chui, K., Deuster, P. A., McKeown, N. M., & Must, A. (2020). Comparison of anthropometric measures in U.S. military personnel in the classification of overweight and obesity. Obesity, 28(2), 362–370. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/oby.22675
Tedford, A. G. (2019). A Comparative Analysis of Army Body Composition Standards for US Army Recruits. Arkansas State University. https://search.proquest.com/openview/b087403bd2286847072d4a84effd809e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
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