W.Minh Tuan

Former US Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper recently wrote an article in the Washington Post newspaper, September 24, 2023 issue,

said that “More and more young Americans are too sick to join the US military.”

Professor Esper was born in 1964, graduated from the US Military Academy in 1986, at the age of 22, and served for many years in the US army, serving as Secretary of the US Army – in the years 2017-2019 .

Then, when US President Trump became President, he invited Mr. Esper to be US Secretary of Defense for 2 years, 2019-2020.

According to Mr. Esper, the US Army’s Army in 2022 has recruited 15,000 people short, this shortage is equal to 25% of the recruitment needs.

And this year 2023, it is likely that the shortage will be about 15% of the military recruitment need, meaning the US military will be able to recruit only 85% of the necessary soldiers.

Mr. Esper said that young Americans, between the ages of 17 and 24, are the age group that can join the US military, but the number of Americans in this age group is getting weaker, making it increasingly difficult to recruit into the military.

When Mr. Esper was Secretary of the Army in 2017, the United States had 34 million people aged 17-24, but up to 71% of people in this age group did not meet the health standards to join the US military, mainly because of obesity, drug addiction, or all kinds of food allergies, drink allergies, pollen allergies, air allergies, or poor ears, or poor eyes, in short, physical health, the physical and mental health of young Americans is much weaker than that of their ancestors.

Mr. Esper said that of the entire US population of 333 million people, every year only about 500,000 people are healthy enough to join the army, the rest are not qualified to join the army. But among these 500,00 people, not everyone wants to join the US army.

Americans are getting sicker, both physically and mentally.

This is terrible.

So where does the US military get soldiers to fight to protect the homeland, and protect the world?

In 1973, during the Vietnam War, most young Americans who joined the US military had parents, brothers, sisters, and relatives who had also been US soldiers, or were currently US soldiers.

So the newly recruited American soldiers at that time had many connections, knowledge, and close feelings with the US military.

Today, the number of American soldiers with family ties to the US military is decreasing.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDCP – only about 30% of US high school students participate in sports, the rest mainly sit and watch TV every day, or surfing the web, or do something that involves sitting a lot indoors and rarely going outdoors.

Recently, in order to recruit enough soldiers for the US military, the US Department of Defense has lowered many Americans’ health standards.

For example, people with poor eyesight, nearsightedness, and hard of hearing are also recruited into the Army, Airforce, Navy.

Mr. Esper completely opposed this approach of the US Department of Defense, lowering military recruitment standards to recruit enough troops, but the health quality of US soldiers was lowered.

Mr. Esper proposed continuing to develop the JROTC program in high schools across the United States, to provide both physical and mental training for American high school students, and that it is a standard human resource, which later to join the US army.

The U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) is one of the largest character development and citizenship programs for American youth around the world, and in the United States, providing both physical and mental training and necessary military knowledge for American high school students.

It’s a bit like the previous Vietnamese Cadet School. (Now the Cadet School in Vietnam has been abolished).

The National Defense Act of 1916 established organized JROTC programs at public and private educational institutions in the United States.

JROTC’s mission, “Promoting America’s youth to become better citizens,” is the guiding principle for the program’s success.

The U.S. Army JROTC program currently operates in more than 1,700 public and private high schools, and military installations and correctional centers throughout the United States and American installations abroad.

Female students make up 40% of the student population.

Currently, every year about 314,000 JROTC cadets are trained worldwide.

But Mr. Esper does not see that even if the United States continues to develop the JROTC program, it will only train and prepare about 300,000 young Americans for good health every year, and cannot improve their health for more than 34 million  American youth aged 17-24 as mentioned above, and it is impossible to improve the health of all 333 million US residents.

In fact, Mr. Esper proposed another program, which is to reuse the Presidential Fitness Test-PFT program.

The PFT Presidential Physical Fitness Testing Program was a national physical fitness testing program administered in United States high schools from the late 1950s until 2013, when the program was abolished, and replaced by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program-PYFP.

PYFP is a comprehensive school-based program in the United States that aims to promote health and regular physical activity for American adolescents in middle and high schools.

This program does not require competitio, but only requires all American teenagers to voluntarily practice sports and improve their health.

Actually, both the PFT and PYFP programs are good.

But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), only about 30% of American teenagers practice sports, out of 34 million American teenagers in the US.

That means that of the 17-24 age group mentioned above, only about 10 million do sports, follow the PFT, or PYFP program mentioned above, or do sport themselves, the rest mainly sit around surfing the web, Facebook, YouTube, Chat,,,, and eat McDonald’s fries, drink Peppsi, Cola,,,.

So how can you be healthy?

Actually, just exercising is not enough to ensure people’s health.

Perhaps neither Professor-US Secretary of Defense Esper, nor the US Department of Defense, nor the US Government, nor the US Congress,,,,, do not fully understand, do not have enough knowledge about how to improve the health of the American people, how to make Americans live healthier, get sick less, so that Americans need less hospitals, less medicine, less doctors, and how to make more and more young Americans are healthy enough to join the US military,,,.

Actually, there is nothing difficult about living a healthy life, with few illnesses, and no illness.

Since ancient times, more than 2000 years ago, the Greek sage Hippocrates (469-375 BC) said: “What thee eat makes thee”.

And now, more than 2000 years later, in 2023, there is American journalist Max Lugavere, a health and science journalist, working for television stations, and newspapers and magazines such as CNN, Medscape, Daily Beast , NBC Nightly, Today, Wall Street Journal,,,.

He is the author of three famous books Genius Food, Genius Life, and Genius Kitchen.

In the book Genius Life, he said “We became what we eat” – similar to the saying of the Greek sage Hippocrates more than 2000 years ago.

That means eat a balanced diet, eat enough nutrients, eat enough vegetables, fruits, nuts, tubers, meat, fish, eggs, milk, rice, bread, eat enough fiber, protein, fat, minerals, and nutrients, starch,,,then you will be healthy.

Why don’t Mr. Professor Esper, the US Government, the US Congress, and the US Department of Defense have a program to encourage Americans to eat a balanced diet, as the sage Hippocrates said more than 2,000 years ago? and journalist Max Lugavere said now?

Because just exercising is not enough to live healthy.

In addition, the basic, minimum knowledge about health, such as every American citizen should drink a small glass of filtered water in the morning when waking up, because then, after a long night of sleep, the body lacks water and needs add water.

After that, every American citizen should exercise in the morning for about 15 minutes.

Then, once a week, run a few kilometers.

After that, you should walk a few kilometers every day.

After that, you should eat a nutritious, balanced diet, reduce and eliminate all processed foods, but eat fresh foods.

Journalist Max Lugavere encourages people to walk barefoot for a few hours a day to be healthier. I have been following this advice for months now, and feel very healthy. I even run barefoot, which is very good for my health.

Journalist Max Lugavere also advises people to take cold showers every day. I also followed this advice, and felt very healthy, no longer had colds, headaches, and runny noses like before.

So the US Government should also have a policy to encourage schools to encourage students to go barefoot, without needing to wear shoes, to return to the primitive era without shoes, so they will be healthier.

And the US Government should also encourage people to bathe in cold water every day, once a day, to avoid colds, flu, Covid 19,,,.

US government should gradually reduce and close the factories of the so-called Food Industry, because all types of food processed in factories, canned, bottled, packaged, are harmful to the human body. health.

Eat fresh food every day.

Next, US government should let’s impose high taxes, and proceed to eliminate factories that produce industrial drinking water, bottled water, canned drinks, soft drinks, sparkling water, because all those types of bottled and canned water are not good for your health.

Drink natural water, and tap water.

After that, the US Government should encourage all Americans to reduce the time they spend sitting at home, sitting at the computer, sitting at the smartphone, with their heads down.

Every American should reduce the time they spend on Facebook, YouTube,,, of the cramped air in the air-conditioned house, in a closed room.

Every American should live with their head held high, looking up at the blue sky more than looking down at their smartphone.

Every American should stand up straight to walk outside, rather than hunch over like a chimpanzee on the computer.

Dear Professor – Secretary of the US Department of Defense Esper, only in this way can US improve the health of the American people and of American youth, and can US make 34 million Young Americans aged 17-24 are healthy enough to join the US military, to protect the US homeland and protect world peace.

If US only rely on the PFT and PYFP programs, it is impossible to comprehensively improve the health status of Americans, and Americans will continue to be sick and weak, and will continue to be unable to join the military.

And the nightmare specter of sick American soldiers, unable to hold guns, and staggering from fatigue, will gradually replace the mighty American army of the past.///