Fit forces in Canada's future

[Thanato 3,654]

Fit forces in Canada's future

Canada's top soldier, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, says the country's armed forces must be fit to fight and if they're not there could be serious repercussions.

Right now, soldiers must take an annual physical test; male soldiers under 35 are required to sprint and then do 19 pushups and 19 sit-ups.

Roughly 10 to 15 per cent of those who take the test don't pass or are deemed medically unfit.

Until now, those who failed didn't have to worry much. It had no impact on their careers.

But CBC News has obtained an internal directive from Hillier that says a soldier's career will now come to a halt until the fitness test is passed. No promotion, no pay raises and even the possibility of dismissal from the forces.

"This is leadership business, and I expect the support of leaders at all levels to ensure the CF [Canadian Forces] is fit to fight," wrote Hillier.

The intention isn't to punish those who fail the test. Those who fail will be assigned to fitness classes.

Source

~Thanato

But Hillier's message is unmistakable. He says Canada's military is now conducting operations worldwide and every member must be fit and up to the challenge.

The military plans to have the physical fitness of all 60,000 members tested by this spring.

[Stellar 1,402]

Damn straight, thats how it should be.

And I'm willing to be that the majority of that 10 to 15 percent are clerks and other "soldiers" with desk jobs.

[__Kratos__ 14]

How fast do they have to run and how far do they have to run?

It would make sense to have a military that is fit.

[AztecInca 1]

Indeed this just makes sense. Although down under the government is toying with the idea of lowering physical requirements to join the military as over the years our numbers have been steadily decreasing with it just getting worse and worse.

[Stellar 1,402]

How fast do they have to run and how far do they have to run?

I think its the same as the enlistment requirement: 2.4 km in 10:30 and under. The combat arms shouldnt have a problem with this.