Discharged servicemen dispute military weight rules

Every year, between 3,000 and 5,000 service members are forced to leave the military for being too fat

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From Elizabeth Cohen and Elise Zeiger
CNN NewsStand

(CNN NewsStand) -- Paul Crane said he lost everything when he was kicked out of the Army after 15 years -- for being 8 pounds overweight.

"There are no vested rights in the military. There is no pension plan ... no personal savings plan. Fifteen years and you're just out, on the streets," complained Crane, who had attained the rank of major after receiving awards and decorations.

Every year, between 3,000 and 5,000 service members such as Crane are forced to leave the military for being too fat. Meanwhile, military manpower remains low and the Pentagon is begging for new recruits.

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Watch the CNN NewsStand report on men kicked out of the military for being overweight Thursday, September 7 at 10 p.m. EDT Then chat with former Navy serviceman Bill Torrance about his experience at 11 p.m. EDT

Many service members who have been expelled claim that the military uses weight as an excuse to get rid of people it doesn't want anymore, and that officials are using outdated and inaccurate methods of measuring people. But the Pentagon insists that the rules are fair and necessary.

"When you go overseas or on a deployment, you're not going to be doing that desk job. You could be working on a flight line, you could be fixing jets, you could be lifting heavy equipment, so you've got to be fit at all times," explained U.S. Air Force Capt. Amie Furlong. People are given several chances to lose weight before they're discharged, she added.

But Crane said what happened to him wasn't fair -- the Army made him weigh in, even when he was disabled and couldn't exercise.

"I was suffering from a knee injury," explained Crane. "They had done arthroscopic surgery on my right knee in 1993. I was actually on crutches for 8 to 9 weeks in bandages. I couldn't work out. Later, I was actually being weighed-in with my crutches and bandages and being expected to maintain my weight without exercise."

Crane (current photo on the left) says he was forced from the military unfairly. Crane (pictured in his military days on the right) was determined to be 8 pounds overweight at the time of his termination

The Army determined Crane's body fat percentage using a tape measure, a technique that many experts say is prone to error, because size is not necessarily a good indication of body fat. Tape measuring does not provide accurate estimates of fatness, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

Using the tape measure method, Crane exceeded the allowable body fat percentage by 1.5 points. Although he has gained 60 pounds since leaving the Army, he says he was muscular while in the service. At 5 feet 8 inches tall, he weighed 187 pounds.

Crane blamed military downsizing for his expulsion.

"At the time, the Army had just completed the Gulf War, and had strengths of over 850,000 people. The current administration decided the manning strengths were not necessary (because) we could use the reserves, and we could pare our military down to just under 500,000," explained Crane.

He took his case to court and won. A judge ordered Crane reinstated and he hopes to return to his base soon. Pentagon lawyers insist Crane's discharge was not a downsizing action, but will not appeal the court's decision.

Does the Army use weight as an excuse to get rid of people it doesn't want?

"I think that in any given situation you may find a small number of people that may actually happen to and that may be reality. But Army-wide, I do not see that as being a problem," said Army Lt. Col. Francine Le Doux.

"One day I was a valued sailor and the next thing I'm just this homeless guy. Basically, that's what it was," said Bill Torrance, who was ordered out of the Navy in 1997, about the same time that Crane left the Army.

The military uses a tape measure, bottom, to determine body fat, but experts say calipers, top, are less prone to errors

Torrance, who joined up in 1987, was honored and promoted. Standing 6 feet 2 inches, and weighing 221 pounds at the time, he was 10 pounds overweight and a single percentage point over the body fat requirements. He said people were shocked to learn that he was too fat for the Navy.

"When I had my job interview, I brought out my discharge papers ... and it says right on them 'weight control failure.' People that I interviewed with looked at that, looked at me, and shook their heads, " said Torrance.

Not only was he discharged, but the Navy has also demanded that he pay back his reenlistment bonus. He's planning a lawsuit to recover the bonus, but what he really wants is to return to the Navy.

The policy has changed since Torrance was discharged. Sailors now are given more time to lose weight and are allowed to have more body fat if they're over age 40. Torrance believes the military relaxed the rules because it faces a shortage of new recruits.

"What you need to understand," countered Navy Capt. Timothy Cepak, "is that yes, we were downsizing ... but no corporation in the world, no organization in the world, would just throw (out) great people that you've invested so much time in. Retaining these people has always been important."

But Crane said the military does little to help people lose weight so that they're able to stay.

"You go to a nutritionist for, I believe it's a 1- or 2-hour training block where they basically tell you what to eat and what not to eat," he remembered. "And after that, you had better make your weigh-ins every month."

An Army expert on weight issues conceded that good programs are the exception rather than the rule, but added that the military is trying to change that.

"Right now we have a sort of inconsistent policy in terms of the assistance that we provide people when they go on the weight-control programs," explained Army Lt. Col. Karl Freidl. "So we're looking at some level of standardization for a minimum set of services that would be provided to these individuals that would be helpful to retaining them in the military."

But what if someone's muscle bulk causes him to exceed the standards? The military does take body type into account, which is where the tape measure comes in. If your body-fat percentage is less than a certain level, you may stay in. However, Joyce Bailey, a body-measurement expert at Central Missouri State University, has urged the armed services to use calipers.

"I would think a military base could afford a $35 calipers and come closer to getting a truer body-composition assessment," said Bailey.

The Pentagon believes tape measuring is both accurate and the simplest, most efficient way to assess soldiers' and sailors' body fat.

Paul Crane now works part time as an officer with the U.S. Border Patrol. He's wondered whether a different way of measuring body fat might have given different results, saving him and the military from lawsuits, years in court and the pain of leaving a career that he loved.

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National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute -- Obesity Guidelines
American Obesity Association
U.S. Army
U.S. Navy
U.S. Air Force
U.S. Marine Corps

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