Rising number of soldiers being dismissed for failing fitness tests

With the cut backs in the number of enlisted solders, reports are going to be coming out that may make citizens think the issue is more about physical fitness by choice than anything else.

This headline makes it seem cut and dry.

Rising number of soldiers being dismissed for failing fitness tests

but with everything else, you have to read the whole article to know what else is going on.

This was at the bottom.

A writer using the screen name Army Mom complained on a court martial defense attorney’s blog that her son was being kicked out for being overweight despite having suffered a knee injury in Iraq.

“My son fought for this country and has a wife and 3 young children, the youngest a month old and they are now homeless,” she wrote in September.

Another soldier, writing anonymously in comments section of the blog, sought advice, saying he was being dismissed for putting on weight after surgery. A second soldier posted a comment saying he gained weight after 19 years in the service when he started taking medicine for depression.

“The Army doctor swears that the medicine does not make [me] gain weight and it is the depression that made me get careless and gain the weight,” the soldier wrote. “The company commander wants to separate me and really there is nothing I can do — just to lose the weight.”

Here is just one medication they give.

Mirtazapine may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:
drowsiness
dizziness
anxiousness
confusion
increased weight and appetite
dry mouth
constipation
nausea
vomiting