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Fatter recruits now welcome as Air Force revises its rules – By Rachel S. Cohen (Military Times) / Apr 3 2023
The Air Force has loosened its restrictions on body fat for new recruits, one of the latest moves to grow the pool of potential applicants amid the military’s recruiting crisis.
In the past, men and women’s bodies needed to be 20% or 28% fat, respectively, to be eligible for service. That benchmark is now 26% for men and 36% for women, Air Force Recruiting Service spokesperson Leslie Brown said Monday.
The American Council on Exercise categorizes as obese those with body fat percentages over 25% for men and 32% for women. The old Air Force benchmark fell into the range of “acceptable” fat, according to the organization.
