Forget sweating to the oldies; try ROTC

One of the few groups the military can actively discriminate against is the overweight.

"Every day, people get thrown out of the Army for being overweight," says Capt. Clifton E. Cooper, assistant professor of military science at Cal State Long Beach.

The armed services enforces very strict height, weight and physical fitness guidelines on their members.

For example, a 21-year-old male soldier must be able to do at least 42 push-ups, run two miles in 15 minutes and 42 seconds and do 52 sit-ups, according to the army Physical Fitness Test Scorecard. If that soldier is six feet tall, he cannot weigh more than 190 pounds.

A 21-year-old women also faces rigorous standards. She must be able to do at least 18 push-ups, run a two mile course in under two minutes and do 50 sit-ups. At five feet five inches, for example, she cannot weigh over 141 pounds.

Anyone who weighs in over the maximum allowed is sent to a doctor for evaluation and is also tested for percentage of body fat, according to Cooper. If no medical condition exists that accounts for the extra weight and the body fat percentage is over the limit, that person is placed on a plan.

Failure to adhere to that plan results in expulsion from the Army. "And once you're out of the Army, you're out," Cooper says.

The devotion to physical standards is rooted in battle. According to the Army Physical Fitness Training handbook, U.S. troops took a beating in the early days of the Korean war because they were physically unprepared for the demands of combat.

U.S. soldiers lost to poorly equipped but well-trained North Korean soldiers and were forced to leave wounded comrades and equipment behind because they could not carry them.

ROTC on campus, which is affiliated with the Army, follows their same rigid standards. "Although anyone can take ROTC classes and not worry about physical standards." Cooper says, "Once they are contracted [obligated to join the Army after graduation], they follow height, weight and physical guidelines set by the Army."

ROTC students help maintain their lean, mean fighting physiques by participating in three workouts scheduled on campus every week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. at the track and lab on Tuesdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the 49er athletic field.

"PT [physical training] is running - a lot of running and calisthenics," Cooper says.

Any registered CSULB student can work out with the class, he says. Although injuries are rare, sprains do happen. Cooper says that in the three years he has been on campus, he can only recall one broken bone - his.

"I broke my thumb rappelling [exercising on the rope]," he says.