Materiel Command takes initiative to slim down - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Materiel Command takes initiative to slim down

Leaders at Air Force Materiel Command are fed up with guts hanging below beltlines, so they’re targeting obese airmen with a weight-reduction program that has some teeth. More than 12 percent of AFMC airmen are considered obese by clinical standards, while another 46 percent are overweight, according to statistics from the Air Force surgeon general.

Although the problem is not unique to AFMC, it’s the only major command to tackle the issue head-on with a weight-reduction program that has some disciplinary measures.

Air Force regulations specify a commander can take administrative action against airmen who have an unprofessional appearance, but this new program takes it up a notch.

“This issue is climbing, not just in our command but in the entire Air Force,” said Lt. Col. John Leitnaker, chief of health and productivity management for Materiel Command. “This is a problem we’ve identified that we weren’t making a change to.”

Statistics: Who’s overweight by MAJCOM

AFMC’s new program will use an airman’s body mass index and the commander’s discretion to root out those who will be required to take part. BMI, an equation devised by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, uses height and weight to provide one measure of a person’s healthy weight range. A BMI over 25 is considered overweight and a BMI over 29.9 is considered obese, according to the institute.

Each AFMC base will design its own program under guidelines handed down by AFMC leadership. Though the program was supposed to start April 1, the bases are still fine-tuning their programs.

For that reason, the Body Mass Reduction program at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has not been publicly announced, but airmen already are participating. Airmen with a BMI over 29.9 will receive a letter from their commander and then enter the Body Mass Reduction program, according to Therese Siejack, chief of health promotions at Wright-Patterson. Airmen with a BMI over 27.5 will also be notified and monitored with quarterly weigh-ins.

Those enrolled in the program at Wright-Patterson will have to attend two extra physical training sessions per week. During the first month, airmen also will attend a three-hour healthy lifestyles class at the Health and Wellness Center, Siejack said. If an airman in the program still has a BMI above 29.9 after one month, he will have to attend weekly classes at the health center during the second month. Airmen continuing into the third month must attend a one-on-one wellness counseling session.

AFMC commander Gen. Bruce Carlson directed commanders not to take any administrative action for 90 days after an airman enters the program, but after that, airmen can face a range of punishments under the same guidelines set out in AFI 10-248 for the service’s fitness program, which includes separation from the Air Force if airmen “fail to progress or do not comply with directed intervention programs” after one year. To go along with the stick of punitive measures, airmen also will be presented incentives, such as a three-day pass for the airman who has the biggest drop in his BMI.

It’s still unclear when programs at each of the 10 AFMC bases will launch, but some people at Wright-Patterson are saying it’s unfair for just one command in the Air Force to institute this sort of program, according to one airman there, who spoke on condition he not be named, although he is not being targeted for being overweight. Others said fairness doesn’t matter.

“It’s not an issue of fairness,” said Col. R.C. Shofner, deputy director, strategic plans and programs, Headquarters AFMC. “In the military, we sign on to go do a job, and I have confidence in the leadership that they are going to make the right kind of decisions to be a fit fighting force. I don’t think anyone is changing the rules.”

Compared to other major commands, AFMC falls right in the middle of the range of obesity rates. Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Air Forces in Europe have the highest obesity rates at 13 percent, while Air Education and Training Command has the lowest, 10 percent.

The Body Mass Reduction program could spread across the Air Force if it delivers on the goal set by Carlson to cut the obesity rate by 10 percent by July 1 and another 10 percent by Jan. 1. Siejack said she has already been contacted by colleagues at the Health and Wellness Center at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, for more information on the Wright-Patterson program.

“Word is getting out about it,” she said.

The program is supported by the Air Force surgeon general’s staff.

“The level of attention and resourcing to support [AFMC’s] initiative is really part of what we need to do as an Air Force to take on issues that impact our readiness, productivity and quality of life,” said Maj. Dana Whelan, deputy chief of health promotions, Air Force Medical Operations Agency.

However, there have been no formal discussions about other commands picking it up yet, Leitnaker said.

The Air Force does have formal intervention programs for airmen with low fitness test scores or large waist measurements. These programs, run by the base health centers and monitored by commanders, include the Healthy Living Workshop, Fitness Improvement Program and Body Composition Improvement Program. Airmen must attend the HLW with a fitness score under 75, the FIP with a fitness score under 70, and the BCIP with a fitness score under 70 and an abdominal circumference over 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women.

The current fitness test doesn’t take into account an airman’s BMI unless his waist measurement keeps him from achieving a perfect score because of his height. In that case, if an airman has a BMI under 25, he will receive the 30 points necessary to attain a perfect score.

Questions have also been raised about whether BMI is an appropriate standard, especially since it penalizes those with higher muscle mass. AFMC officials said commanders will have the discretion to take airmen out of the program if that is the case.

Tech. Sgt. Samantha Lyman said she and other PT leaders at Wright-Patterson were briefed about the program a month ago. She said she has noticed more airmen, especially in the older generation, have let their weight climb.

“I can’t put a percent on it, but I do see people who don’t look professional in their uniforms,” she said. “Their uniforms look a little tighter. I don’t want to say it’s the older generation, or my generation, or the folks younger than me, but it seems like the majority is more the senior generation, and that’s why I think this is a good program.”

Shofner said airmen have also been able to hide some of those extra pounds under their BDUs, which are much looser than dress blues.

It’s not only an airman’s professional appearance that worries AFMC leadership when it comes to weight.

“We have noted some deploying airmen who struggle and suffer physically because they are unable to meet long-established fitness standards, placing safe mission accomplishment at risk,” AFMC Vice Commander Lt. Gen. Terry Gabreski said in a statement. “This is unacceptable.”

Discuss: The Air Force PT program