This bit is actually true
Adml Radakin’s intervention comes in the wake of a two-year-long Armed Forces recruitment ad campaign called “You Belong Here”, designed to show the military as a modern, inclusive employer. What has not evolved as fast, however, is physical selection criteria, which critics say is outdated and over-fussy.
In the past decade, for example, thousands of applicants have been blocked for conditions like hay fever, eczema and even acne. MoD guidelines from 2019 state that severe adolescent pimples can “affect the ability to wear military clothing or to operate military equipment”.
A seriously spotty back. Now carry an 80lb pack for 4 days. Doesn’t work, does it?
“There is a view that those joining the Armed Forces will be there till pension age, when in reality, most don’t serve anything like that long,” O’Neill says. “That drives a demand for physical perfection. There’s also an assumption that anyone in uniform must be able to pick up a weapon and fight – but there are probably some areas where you could change that.”
As B inND has said around here. The British army does so assume – everyone’s trained sa a soldier first. The American doesn’t – techs are techs, not soldiers. Either system works but you do need to pick one.