Navy Rewards Fat Sailors

This little tidbit just in from my wife: a sailor at her command is being given a $30,000 severance for not being allowed to re-enlist because she's overweight. That's right, this woman, who is around 5'2" and 240 pounds, and hasn't passed a Physical Readiness Test (PRT) in three years, is being rewarded for being fat.

Understandably, my wife, who runs five miles a day and always gets an "Outstanding" on her PRTs, is more than a little irked. Add to this the fact that her Master Chief is now requiring everyone to show up for Physical Training (PT) once a week in an attempt to whip the (largely overweight) troops into shape, which means my wife has to get up at o'dark thirty to participate in this chicken run.

It just seems pretty unreal to me that a military organization would actually reward someone for failing to stay within regs. This sailor is claiming that the stress of being in the Navy caused her to gain 100 pounds. For crying out loud, she's a Third Class Petty Officer and a storekeeper to boot. Not exactly high-stress work we're talking about here.

Interesting to note that this person has told my wife in the past that she's pretty comfortable at her weight. Hm. I believe this is called milking it.

Welcome to the "new" Navy.