It’s something I never thought about but it just popped into my mind. Do Dwarfs have positions in the military or, in the event of a draft, are they waived of their duty?
The British army has a minimum height req. of 158cm (can’t link to the page because it was a Java search thingy). Can’t find my way around the US army site as well, though…
Marines must be at least 58 inches tall, army at least 60. There are also height/weight/age proportion and restrictions:
Anecdote: Soviet Tank crew members had to be a maximum of 5’6.
No way would they let them in. If it was a draft situation, I’m sure they’d get some sort of a medical waiver. I can’t see how it’d work – I’m 4’2" (though with my particular condition I have long limbs and a shorter body) and it’d be impossible even if I didn’t have assorted physical problems associated with that. I can’t find anything about the Air Force height requirements online, though their height/weight charts go down to 4’10" for men. It’s a shame…right now it’d be a good option for me (assuming I could get into basic before March 21, when I’ll be too old!) except for my medical crap.
Not that I’m a guy! But 4’10" is REALLY SHORT for a guy. It could be that the chart goes down that far, but the requirements don’t.
I’m sure that if they couldn’t make it in the military, they could dress in little cone caps and britches and become gardeners.
A dwarf obviously would not be approved for combat, but I can see that a dwarf would have no problem with say, reviewing satellite photographs and picking out intelligence. There are plenty of jobs that don’t require physical prowess. (And remember, they are natural sprinters, very dangerous over short distances.)
How about undercover work? Tunnel rats?
[sub][sup]Short-order cooks?[/sup][/sub]
Most dwarfs, under the medical definition of the term, have physical problems beyond just their (lack of) height that would render them inelligable for military service.
If you’re talking people who are just really short, either because that’s the way they are or something like pituitary dwarfism that doesn’t wreck too much havoc on the body as a whole – you have the problem of supplying them with uniforms, gear, etc. You don’t get custom tailoring for the troops.
Extremely tall people are also disqualified from military service, for similar reasons - if they escape the medical problems of extreme height there is still the problem of supplying them with clothes and such.
They might, however, work in some capacity as a civilian contrator to the military - that would allow the military to make use of their skills with worrying about combat readiness in such a person.
I specifically recall that when I graduated from high school in 1970, the height restrictions for being drafted were that only males between 5’ and 6’ 6" could be drafted. Since I’m 4’ 11", I couldn’t be drafted. I didn’t even have to do a physical. I just got my family doctor to measure my height and sign a note. I think those specific heights were chosen because they figured they would have to custom-design too many uniforms, etc. if they went outside those bounds.