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We'd like to salute a few good men from the five service academies (Military, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine)-where fitness isn't so much an elective but a required course of action.
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| America's Fittest Colleges 2006 |
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"Our jobs are dependent on our abilities to perform in front of soldiers who won't care what our major was, but whether we can lead them into battle," says Cadet Lieutenant David Mudek of the West Point military academy. "To do this, we must be mentally and physically prepared, and personal fitness is a very important aspect of that preparedness."
Mudek says all cadets must take a full year of nutrition classes; play sports; meet height, weight, and body-fat-percentage requirements; and pass the Army physical-fitness test.
Says Cadet Second Class Yoshio Adachi: "I completed a freefall parachute program and earned my jump wings my sophomore year at the Air Force Academy. How many other colleges allow you to do that?"
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Reader Comments:
I was happy to see the Service Academies acknowledged here. You really should have a footnote on your fittest list that the Academies have been excluded due to professionalism. The studetnts at the colleges you have listed aren't even on the same scale as the Cadets and Doolies. Anyone who has a son or daughter at an Academy, as I do, knows that these are the fittest students in the world (even the Midshipmen with their air-conditioned barracks).
-- Bob
While too would agree that the service academies are likely some of, if not the fittest students in the coutry, what do air conditioned barracks have anything to do with physical fitness? Aren't the elite SEALs from the Navy?
-- Joe
I was glad to see the picture of Dickinson U football team.. My nephew, Mikey O'D (front #26) is a sweet linebacker who jells with the rest of this superb defensive corp. Good things are bound to happen when hard work and determination are employed. Good Dickie U.
-- Uncle Reyne
Were getting soft at the Citadel as well, 3 of the 4 barraks have air conditioning.
Sad really.
-- Rob, Citadel 04
Well said, Bob. Maybe when the USMA or USAFA can beat the Naval Academy in football, you can have air conditioning.
-Wade
-- Anonymous
Oops. I didn't see this part before hopping on the bandwagon...props for giving these guys a special acknowledgement!
-- Greg Whitesell
Wow, the Academies are a 'footnote'. And you forgot or chose not to mention schools like the Virginia Military Institute, the Citadel and Norwich which, it can be argued, based on your criteria, exceeds even the academies. You might want to explain why these institutions were excluded since without a VERY GOOD explanation, your 'study' has absolutely no credibility.
Larry Williams, Virginia Military Institute 1982
-- Larry
'We'd like to salute a few good men...'
Don't forget to salute a few good women as well!
-- pamurchu
MensFitness should do a follow on...which of "us" (military or paramilitary) is the fittest!
Go Navy! Beat Army!
-- Navy Ninety Sixer
Everyone says that the academies shouldn't be included on the list, but they should. Although we have mandatory IM's, tests and PT classes, we do not have school wide PT during the academic year. It is optional, yet you will see cadets by the handful in the gym all hours of the day or out running the roads. They all do this for their soldiers, their selves or their teammates, not because it's required. Only during basic and field training is daily PT required of cadets. A typical day for a cadet includes 2 formations, 3 meals, 3-4 55 minute classes (3 credit), a lab or lecture, parade drill for 2 hours (marching with a rifle, not PT) or an IM on non drill days (1.5 hours of pass and go or flag football, again not hard PT) followed by evening clubs and 2 hours of mandatory homework per a 3 credit class. This allows for no free time and about 4-5 hours of sleep if you skip out on homework. With this schedule of 18-21 credits and everything else, I would say that cadets at West Point are truly intrinsically motivated to be athletes and to work hard on all levels of personal fitness, because they have to actually sacrifice homework, talking to family back home and life in general to fit it in. So yes, cadets at USMA were required to be in top physical shape to get into the academy, but they are not required to be in that same shape to graduate, yet the majority of the school chooses to maintain their standards or exceed them because they know what it means to their futures.
-- David USMA '07
Your article forgot t mention the last three state military institute in the nation...The CITADEL, VMI and Norwich...which may not be famous as the five federal military institutes but they do have a rigorous fitness programs...The CITADEL has the most intense Knob year they demand that knobs be in top shape....maybe you need to take a look at it
-- Angel
VMI absolutely deserves a mention. PE is required every semester, and cadets are required to participate in sports or complete a 3 mile run 3 times a week. Additionally, ROTC Programs (which every cadet is required to participate in) have physical standards and training as well. Neighboring Washington and Lee makes a big joke about cadets constantly running through their campus.
-- Alex
The state academies definately need to be included at the very least on par with the federal academies in regard to physical fitness. The few guys I've met from Norwich and VMI are rocks, but I can't speak for their schools as a whole. I know at The Citadel we DO have mandatory school-wide physical training for what ends up to be about 5 months of the academic year. We don't stop school wide PT until our cadet company reaches a 95% pass rate on the Army physical fitness test, at which point cadets are "expected" to stay in shape (most do). Out knobs (freshmen) however still have a rigorous PT session once a week with the ranking upperclassmen for the entire year, not to mention the physical demands we place on them at pretty much all times. They end their freshmen year with an entire day of it; the day after our final second semester exam date. Those of us with military contracts have required PT at least 2 days a week year round. I think they left us military school guys out of the survey because it would be like comparing apples to oranges. It's a way of life for us, but its exceptional for people outside our kind of environment.
-- El Cid '08
A couple 'decent' seasons and USMA and USNA think they can take the Falcons. Check the last couple of decades for some CINC trophy stats. On a side note, this article was lame and clearly east coast biased.
-- Patrick
Pretty sad..."Unsung Heroes"....The academies should have been at the top of the list! Yes, we are a footnote....
-- Anonymous
I agree with some of the above sentiments...The Citadel, VMI, and Norwich deserve mentioning...heck, they should be at the top of the list...I know that, at least while I was a cadet at El Cid...we could smoke any academy brat in PT...we took pride in being in peak physical condition...like a previous person stated, Knob year at THe Citadel is leaps and bounds tougher than any other 4th class system...the honor code at the academies are lacking as well...overall, I believe The Citadel, VMI, and Norwich should be on top of the list above the service academies. On another note, people have failed to mention the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M as well...I have met several of their cadets...they are deserving of a mention as well.
The Citadel '01
-- Sonny
Personally I am glad they pulled them out and didn't rank us...I would put our average cadets from USAFA, USMA (west point), USNA (Annapolis), Citadel, VMI, and all the others up against the best other colleges have to offer...but I sure would hate for Navy to end up at the bottom of that list, just below the springdale academy for preschoolers...it would just make them feel worse. :P
And to David, USMA 00, fortunately for you guys, homework isn't needed to graduate... :D j/k.... Seriously, I am glad the Air Force is finally looking to modify our non-academy athletic standards to match yours. I have met many of your (future) brothers in arms in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of the finest I have ever met.
-- Ike, USAFA 2000
It is quite a disappointment that VMI, Norwich, and The Citadel have not been included on these lists. I do agree that the academies, VMI, El Cid, and Norwich should be included in the ranking overall. Yes, in some instances you have required PT. At VMI for example we were required a 3 mile run, pushups and situps 2 days a week. However, this was the minimum requirement. Some would go out for a run or two a day. And by the time you are halfway through your Rat (Freshman) year at VMI, 3 miles barely breaks a sweat so most would run 5-10 miles. Hands down the 5 academies and 3 state institutions are the most fit, by virtue of what we are, but we deserve to be ranked among the overall lists.
I also agree that there should be an article on the most fit of all 8 schools.
Go VMI-Beat Army!!
-- Chris VMI '03
Of all the other state "military" schools listed, VMI is the only school that is truly a state MILITARY COLLEGE. All VMI students (and there are are only about 1,200 of them in total) are CADETS. Norwich, Citadel, and the others all have civilian students mixed into their student body. I think it's funny how Citadel folks are always talking about how tough their (el cid!)school is...
-- Nate
Like many others, I'm also unhappy to see Norwich, VMI, and The Citadel not on the list. I'm a Cadet at Norwich, and I know hands down that on average, any of our Cadets could smoke the bag out of Any service academy member. Besides mandatory PT at a bare minimum of 3 times a week with ROTCs, where we run till we drop, The Rooks (Freshmen) at Norwich have PT sometimes twice a day with their Cadre and all day long on Saturdays. Most cadets also go for at least one 5-10 mile run a day and a good 2 hour session at the gym as well. I know when i got to Norwich my freshman year i was a fat body, a service academy wouldnt even accept me. Now...i know i could smoke the bag out of any Service Academy member anytime anywhere. The day before recognition as cadets we were ran for 15 miles by our Cadre. We're located in the middle of the green mountains, and run up nothing but hills and mountains, people from Norwich laugh when they go to Army training schools because the PT is so easy for them. Norwich is the first private Military Academy and was founded by Captain Alden Partridge, a man who used to be the commandant of West Point, and decided that it sucked. My Platoon Leader my freshman year went to Norwich his freshman year, then got accepted and transfered out to West point his sophmore year. He then transfered back to Norwich, because Cadets at Norwich got better training in all military aspects then they ever got at the USMA. Norwich certainly deserves to be mentioned for its overall fitness.
-- J.C.D. Norwich '09
Also, the fact that the University of Vermont was ranked number 4 in the fittest colleges in America?! They're less than an hour away from Norwich, and they're full of unathletic people and fat bodies. I guarantee any Norwich Cadet could out PT them any day of the week.
-- JCD Norwich '09
I think we all can agree that the service academies and the state military institutes (I'm a VMI grad myself) are THE fittest colleges in America...I'd hate to split hairs and speculate as to which school is fitter than the next because we all have PT studs and fat bodies
-- ABC
I love the animosity of the VMI, Citadel, and Norwich cadets. Let's just call it even...for now. Every Academy and other military institutions have their irregulars that stand out and aren't PT studs, but to declare that " I go to the Citadel and I could out PT anyone at any service academy!" Do not be so brash. You want to challenge the cadet that broke the 2-minute record for pushups this past year at the Navy Dive school with 147 pushups? Or the cadets who ROUTINELY score 375 (100 pu 100 su under 1153 two mile run) on the APFT. I am not saying one academy is better than another physically, or the other military institutions across this great country, but pull your head out of your ass and realize you aren't the only stud out there.(Sonny '01)
-- Mike - USMA
There's nothing I hate more than VMI, Citadel or Norwich cadets bragging about how their academy is better than the US Service Academies (USNA, USMA, USAFA). You know what, most cadets and midshipman from a real US Service Academy don't even acknowledge your existence! So keep bragging and saying that you school is better... and we will keep ignoring you because we KNOW that we are far superior!
PS: you think private military school cadets are in better shape? Try to out PT a Navy SEAL Select from USNA.
-- Youngster USNA '09
To Youngster 09,
You need to grow up. I can't speak for Norwich or Citadel folks because (unlike VMI) they are half civilian/half military schools. The standards of admission at VMI are also much higher than the other two schools you mentioned. However, in regards to the "real US service Academies" you speak about, I chose VMI over your school and USMA because VMI is far tougher and much less "politically correct" than any of the academies could ever be. As far as out PT-ing a Navy SEAL "select" from USNA, I look forward to seeing your face in the real military (and I can out PT you on my worse day). Look forward to working with you, squid.
-- VMI Green Beret
Funny, I work for a large defense contractor, and at lunch everyday, the onsite gym is packed with grads from USMA, USAFA, USNA, VMI, CItadel, A&M etc... Even though grads compose only 1-2% of the workforce, there's limited participation from the civilian schools. Grads outnumber the civies two to one in the gym. Most of these grads are in their 40's and 50's, yet they're in the gym everyday (rain or shine). Just goes to show how our shared experiences at the military schools have made physical fitness a permanent part of our daily lives. It's a brotherhood. Rock On!
-- Paul, USMA '90
Which school do you guys think is better VMI or the Citadel? Ive heard the Citadel is tougher and that it has a better reputation.
-- Jon
I think that MF should do a feature article on the The Citadel, VMI and the Service Academies. As a recent Citadel grad, I take pride in The Citadel being the toughest school in the country (I could go on and on as to the reasons why, just like any other alum from the other above mentions schools could do likewise). I am saying that in today's day and age (where everyone is a winner and everyone gets a damn trophy), more light needs to be shed on our paths. We are competitive and aggressive. We do not tolerate weakness. We are determined to be the best of the best. We are men of action and integrity, and our country needs us now more than ever, both at home and abroad. Our stories are the ones which people should be looking to and talking about, but unfortunately I fear we are the last of a dying breed.
-- Jeff '07
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