Obviously every branch of the military has requirements for physical fitness. What happens when a soldier who’s on leave for some time at home decides to wreck their physique through lousy eating and getting no exercise? Would this be an effective way of avoiding being sent into a combat zone?
No, They would still send you , plus make you do mandatory exercise to bring yourself within regs. When I was in the Navy they tested your body fat percentage every 6 months, and if you were over 22% you were assigned mandatory aerobics every morning.
I served with a guy that was dumb enough to tell people he was on the “Food for Freedom” program and intentionally gaining weight. He was charged with malingering and demoted.
Intentionally making yourself unfit for duty is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
However, if they can’t prove it was on purpose they can order you to do more exercise and lose the weight. Failure to meet standards can still result in demotion and discharge, but it’s a long process.
So if a female soldier gets pregnant to avoid being sent to Iraq she can go to jail?
No cite , but if you are on active duty and go out and get sunburnt, "they"can actually give you “non judicial punishment” for damaging government property under the (UCMJ) uniform code of military justice, if you are unable to perform your duties the next day .
If they can prove the charge, yes. Malingering to avoid hazardous duty is one of the most serious offenses.
But how would they ever prove it if she has sense enough to keep her mouth tight shut?
This was a frequent topic of conversation when I worked in the legal office at the (former) naval base in Orlando, FL. It’s an urban legend to the extent that getting sunburned so badly that you can’t work is fairly rare, and not really punishable. Furthermore, while military members like to say it, the term “government property” doesn’t apply to humans, whether or not they have binding contracts with the military.
-Tofer
Yeah, I had a binding contract with the military, and you of course as a civil servant have no idea what it takes to make the U.S.Navy run like a well oiled machine.
Civil servant? Did I say I was a civil servant?
Respectfully,
LCDR Chris Gregg, USNR
R= Reserve = says it all.
let’s take this out of GQ
So are you saying that you believe—or better yet, have evidence—that the term “government property” is in fact applied in a legal or official way to members of the military? Or are you just letting off some steam in the direction of civilians and reservists?
Sign up and then test the waters for yer self boy, You WILL do as your told or spend the balance of your time in federal prison.
[MODERATOR HAT ON]
Time out, guys! This is still a GQ.
bob fortuna. If you need to flame other members, start a Pit thread. Don’t do it here. If you can give any factual information to help answer the OP here, then do it.
[MODERATOR HAT OFF]
When were you there? I went to boot and ET “A” School there (well, the basic electricity and electronics school) in 1991-92.
That said, several people (including me) got fairly bad sunburns during boot camp from being outside so much. There was never so much as a hint of prosecution. We were simply sent to sick call for treatment and told to use more sunscreen.
As for weight/fitness, my company commanders measured us monthly. I’d get hit for being just over the maximum every time, until the company commander asked me about my menstrual cycle. The 1% overage was probably caused by water retention, so I was measured the week after my period, when the bloating subsided. I was within standards then.
Robin
Proof or no proof, who’s ever going to ride out the shitstorm incurred by punishing a woman for being pregnant? :dubious:
If you’re in a combat unit, I would expect that you be taken off active duty, for the servicewoman’s safety, if nothing else, with the accompanying drop in salary for being in a non-combat position.
Although I’m not in the US military, I can say that as a reservist, I have to pass an annual (well, I’m supposed to, at least) physical profiecency test, and if I fail that, I will have to attend remedial training. If I fail to show up for those, I can probably get arrested.
As for the full timers, they have to pass the test as well. If they fail the test, they can not be considered for promotions, and if they fail for three years they will be discharged.
Maybe, maybe not. I was thinking of an unmarried woman. Maybe with a married woman you’re right. As I said, who would know and any proof would have to be an outright admission on her part.
I was there in '94-95 (on active duty, incidentally. I’ve been a reservist for a few years now since I changed careers). As you say, there was never any real attempt to take sunburned sailors to mast. We had a few chiefs stop by the office and ask if they could do it, just to stick it to the sailor in question. We all had a good laugh about it.
-Tofer
I disagree even in the case of an unmarried woman - it’s still going to be seen as “punishing her for being pregnant” and it’s a short step from there to “punishing her for being a woman”, at least as far as political capital is concerned.
Are there any stats on pregnancy figures among female soldiers pre and post, say, January 2003?
On a bit of a tangent …
It is my understanding that under the common law there was a crime (called “mayhem,” perhaps?) under which one civilian could be charged for injuring another civilian to the extent that the victim would no longer be able to serve in the military if drafted (“depriving the king of a soldier,” or some such).
Does anyone know anything about this?