Violet Fashion by Mindy
12-22-2005, 08:16 AM
[/URL] The new officer cadet: fat, asthmatic and colourblind
From: http://network.news.com.au/images/h14_theaustralian.gif (http://www.news.com.au/)
By Michael McKinnon and Michael McKenna
December 23, 2005
AUSTRALIA'S military may soon be led by overweight officers with poor eyesight and asthma under a radical proposal to tackle a recruitment crisis within the Defence Force.
The army, navy and airforce are considering plans to relax eyesight and weight criteria for officer recruits in an effort to fill recruitment quotas and accept more of the 10 per cent of applicants who fail on health grounds. The chiefs of Australia's three military services have ordered a review of the once-strict eligibility criteria in the face of falling numbers of recruit applications and government moves to expand the size of the Defence Force amid current global instability. Documents, obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws reveal the ADF has for the sixth consecutive year fallen 20 per cent short of its recruitment target at the same time as it deals with increasing numbers of Defence staff leaving for the more lucrative private sector.
The recruitment problems are being felt across all three services, as well as the Army Reserve, with the greatest shortfalls among officer candidates.
Novel tactics - including giveaways of ADF-themed computer games and advertising campaigns during the cinema releases of action movies - have failed to lift recruitment numbers.
According to the documents, obtained after a challenge in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the top-level Chiefs of Service Committee earlier this year ordered further study of proposed measures to address the crisis, conceding the recruitment failures "do, or will, limit ADF capability options".
Among the more contentious proposals is for the ADF to review physical requirements for officer candidates, including those who failed to pass "body-mass index" criteria. The BMI is part of the medical examination of ADF recruits, who are required to be within the "acceptable weight-for-height range" before they are then allowed to undergo pre-entry physical fitness assessments.
The ADF also imposes a range of restrictions on candidates with eyesight impairments, including bans on people with severe colour blindness. Conditions such as asthma can also prevent admission to the ADF.
In June, the committee said it was considering a Defence Force Recruitment Board plan to review BMI requirements for officers and abandon restrictions on asthma sufferers. "Agreement to review the potential benefits of adopting risk management strategies for asthma and body-mass index afflicted candidates," the report said.
The DFR also canvassed possible changes to existing restrictions on candidates with poor eyesight.
In a statement yesterday, the ADF said it would not "pre-determine" the results of the review, but stated that the current candidate criteria - including age and citizenship - exclude about 10 per cent of aspirants to the military.
"Prior experience of asthma, poor eyesight and obesity are significant in reducing the pool of suitable applicants," the statement said. "What Defence does wish to do however is to assess whether some of these standards are unfairly excluding some applicants whom otherwise would be deemed highly suitable for a military career."
Recruitment policies for prospective RAAF and army specialist officers, including lawyers and doctors, are also being revised.
Analysis of the proposals is contained in the Defence Force's Recruiting Strategic Plan 2005-10, which was finalised late last month.
Assistant Defence Minister De-Anne yesterday said there was no intention of reducing recruitment standards.
But Ms Kelly said "modern technology" now allowed certain physical conditions to be "well managed".
"There are elite athletes who are asthma sufferers," she said. "But we need people who are fit to fight and we are looking at ways of helping people to become fit."
The ADF documents reveal the worst recruitment shortfalls are in attracting prospective officers, predicted to be 33 per cent below the required numbers, with the remaining ranks falling 17 per cent short.
Overall, the ADF fell 1000 short of its recruitment targets last year.
On current trends, the ADF has warned that the Defence Force will shrink from about 52,000 personnel to 48,500 by 2010 - significantly below the 55,000-strong force planned by Defence Minister Robert Hill.
Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James said the ADF needed to be careful in its review of recruitment standards.
"Something needs to be done to boost numbers coming into the ADF, like paying personnel more money, " Mr James said.
"But the problem is that if someone is recruited, who suffers from asthma or has poor eyesight, then they will never be able to be deployed. It reduces the flexibility of the entire ADF."
[url]http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17645604-2,00.html
From: http://network.news.com.au/images/h14_theaustralian.gif (http://www.news.com.au/)
By Michael McKinnon and Michael McKenna
December 23, 2005
AUSTRALIA'S military may soon be led by overweight officers with poor eyesight and asthma under a radical proposal to tackle a recruitment crisis within the Defence Force.
The army, navy and airforce are considering plans to relax eyesight and weight criteria for officer recruits in an effort to fill recruitment quotas and accept more of the 10 per cent of applicants who fail on health grounds. The chiefs of Australia's three military services have ordered a review of the once-strict eligibility criteria in the face of falling numbers of recruit applications and government moves to expand the size of the Defence Force amid current global instability. Documents, obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws reveal the ADF has for the sixth consecutive year fallen 20 per cent short of its recruitment target at the same time as it deals with increasing numbers of Defence staff leaving for the more lucrative private sector.
The recruitment problems are being felt across all three services, as well as the Army Reserve, with the greatest shortfalls among officer candidates.
Novel tactics - including giveaways of ADF-themed computer games and advertising campaigns during the cinema releases of action movies - have failed to lift recruitment numbers.
According to the documents, obtained after a challenge in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the top-level Chiefs of Service Committee earlier this year ordered further study of proposed measures to address the crisis, conceding the recruitment failures "do, or will, limit ADF capability options".
Among the more contentious proposals is for the ADF to review physical requirements for officer candidates, including those who failed to pass "body-mass index" criteria. The BMI is part of the medical examination of ADF recruits, who are required to be within the "acceptable weight-for-height range" before they are then allowed to undergo pre-entry physical fitness assessments.
The ADF also imposes a range of restrictions on candidates with eyesight impairments, including bans on people with severe colour blindness. Conditions such as asthma can also prevent admission to the ADF.
In June, the committee said it was considering a Defence Force Recruitment Board plan to review BMI requirements for officers and abandon restrictions on asthma sufferers. "Agreement to review the potential benefits of adopting risk management strategies for asthma and body-mass index afflicted candidates," the report said.
The DFR also canvassed possible changes to existing restrictions on candidates with poor eyesight.
In a statement yesterday, the ADF said it would not "pre-determine" the results of the review, but stated that the current candidate criteria - including age and citizenship - exclude about 10 per cent of aspirants to the military.
"Prior experience of asthma, poor eyesight and obesity are significant in reducing the pool of suitable applicants," the statement said. "What Defence does wish to do however is to assess whether some of these standards are unfairly excluding some applicants whom otherwise would be deemed highly suitable for a military career."
Recruitment policies for prospective RAAF and army specialist officers, including lawyers and doctors, are also being revised.
Analysis of the proposals is contained in the Defence Force's Recruiting Strategic Plan 2005-10, which was finalised late last month.
Assistant Defence Minister De-Anne yesterday said there was no intention of reducing recruitment standards.
But Ms Kelly said "modern technology" now allowed certain physical conditions to be "well managed".
"There are elite athletes who are asthma sufferers," she said. "But we need people who are fit to fight and we are looking at ways of helping people to become fit."
The ADF documents reveal the worst recruitment shortfalls are in attracting prospective officers, predicted to be 33 per cent below the required numbers, with the remaining ranks falling 17 per cent short.
Overall, the ADF fell 1000 short of its recruitment targets last year.
On current trends, the ADF has warned that the Defence Force will shrink from about 52,000 personnel to 48,500 by 2010 - significantly below the 55,000-strong force planned by Defence Minister Robert Hill.
Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James said the ADF needed to be careful in its review of recruitment standards.
"Something needs to be done to boost numbers coming into the ADF, like paying personnel more money, " Mr James said.
"But the problem is that if someone is recruited, who suffers from asthma or has poor eyesight, then they will never be able to be deployed. It reduces the flexibility of the entire ADF."
[url]http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17645604-2,00.html