To meet today's heavy operational demands, Coast Guard leaders often-times are sacrificing enforcement of Coast Guard weight and fitness standards. This is a potentially deadly mistake that must be corrected by our leadership. If we do not enforce our fitness and weight standards, our people will not be able to operate at maximum efficiency.
Anyone who turns on the evening news or reads the paper knows that Americans are in the midst of an obesity epidemic. The Department of Health and Human Services reported that in 2002, 31% of adults (nearly 9 59 million people) and 15% of children were overweight, and the numbers have continued to increase. Numerous cultural trends over the past quarter-century are at the root of this epidemic: technological advances (cable TV, the Internet, video games), poor eating habits, and an overall drop in physical activity. Today's Coast Guard is a microcosm of America in its members' unsatisfactory level of fitness, and many Coast Guardsmen could be medically diagnosed as "obese."
A flawed system of weight management and meek enforcement of the Commandant's physical fitness standards have encouraged the lack of emphasis on fitness throughout the service. It is shameful that we have allowed our physical fitness to drop to such an alarmingly low level. We have failed, from senior-level officers to the newest petty officers, to acknowledge that our sailors' physical fitness levels and compliance with established weight standards are not at levels required by an organization with missions that include the physically demanding work of maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, marine safety, and maritime homeland security. In answer to this problem, the Coast Guard currently is developing fitness standards for all of its active-duty and reserve members, which may go in effect as early as the end of the fiscal year. It remains to be seen, however, whether these new standards will be enough to correct our organization's fitness levels.
During basic enlisted training in Cape May, New Jersey, or any officer-training program, including the Coast Guard Academy and Officer Candidate School in New London, Connecticut, strong emphasis is placed on physical training. Candidates who fail to meet the minimum physical fitness levels are quickly removed from training. On arrival in the Coast Guard, however, personnel quickly realize that the emphasis on physical fitness diminishes. Instead of proper physical fitness being mandatory, many come to realize that it is merely a "voluntary" activity.
Time must be dedicated to physical activity on a daily basis. Simply providing an extra hour of liberty will benefit only highly motivated personnel, whereas the majority of Coast Guardsmen will use the extra hour to pursue other nonphysical activities. Commands must be willing to provide an average of five hours a week toward physical training, requiring total unit participation. Requiring this level of effort will benefit each member's personal well-being, as well as the unit's. This, in turn, will build unit cohesion and operational effectiveness.
Lack of accountability is a leading reason for our sailors' marginal physical condition. The failure is most often seen in the enforcement of the Commandant's weight and physical fitness standards for maritime law enforcement officers and boat crewmen. These standards oftentimes are not tested twice per year, and even when they are, members who fail to meet them often are allowed to continue to serve as law enforcement officers.
"At our station, we gave the physical fitness test and over half of our coxswains and crewmen did not pass," said Petty Officer Daniel Schrader, "and if we had pulled their qualifications, we would have shut down the unit. So, about a week later, the test was offered again after work hours on an individual basis, and magically everyone passed the second time." What message does this send to our members? We have made it clear that we do not hold physical fitness and well -being to be important aspects of the careers of our people.
Despite fostering the Coast Guard's culture of unhealthy and unfit sailors, our greatest failure is not holding our subordinates unaccountable, but rather a complete disregard for holding ourselves accountable. We have failed to lead by example. Whether as an officer-in-charge of a small boat station, a commanding officer of a high-endurance cutter, or an executive petty officer, we must raise our levels of fitness and follow Coast Guard weight standards to be fit for command before we can lead our subordinates to the same goal. Simply being in shape will not correct the epidemic; we also must make concerted, deliberate efforts to hold ourselves accountable for making difficult decisions.
Lieutenant Casey is a 2001 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. he currently is assigned as a deployable team leader with Maritime Safety and Security Team 91110.