NJ Adjutant General Notice for Weight Control

[Jason Perry]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chris-christie-national-guard_56015404e4b00310edf876f0

"TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie wants the leader of New Jersey's National Guard to shape up.

The governor has given Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael Cunniff 90 days to slim down and meet his obligations.

The action comes after Christie's staff told The Washington Post that the governor was unaware the general had been reprimanded by the Pentagon about his weight and for repeatedly dodging physical-fitness tests.

The newspaper obtained the records under the Freedom of Information Act.

Christie declined a request for an interview.

"The Governor has expressed directly to the General that his failure to meet that standard or to provide notification of his formal reprimand is both unacceptable and disappointing," Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said in an emailed statement.

The governor has given Cunniff 90 days to slim down and "meet his obligations," Roberts wrote."

There is so much irony in this post that I cannot possibly hit all of the points.

Just point out that many folks have been separated for failing to meet weight control standards. Yet, the Adjutant General of the NJ National Guard seems to have had longstanding issues with meeting the standards. (I am not even touching or commenting directly on the fact that Gov. Christie has his own weight issues).

To me, there is an unexplored or "glossed over" issue of the changing of findings. See the attached IG Report that discussing an error in a reporting of Brig Gen Cuniff, the TAG, having a Good score based on an alleged error in reading a "9" as a "4," or a "2" as a "3". See attached IG Report on NJ TAG.

It was not clear how much weight the general must lose to be in compliance with AF Regulations.

Cunniff declined an interview request. But the National Guard released a statement in which the general acknowledged he failed to meet the Air Force's fitness requirements in recent years.

"Many people struggle with weight control — I am not immune from this, the general said in the statement. "However, I do recognize that military members and leaders, like myself, are held to a higher standard. I take this matter seriously and am taking the necessary steps to remedy this issue," the general said.

Christie, who once called himself "the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen," secretly underwent weight-loss surgery in 2013. A band was surgically placed around his stomach to restrict how much food he could eat."

Here are my questions:

How many NJ National Guard Members (both Air Guard and Army Guard) were separated from the service based on failing to meet height/weight standards and/or physical fitness standards while the State Adjutant General was also not in compliance with standards?

Will General Cuniff suffer any consequences in terms of his retirement/separation pay when those under his command have suffered consequences for the same problem he has? Will there be any relief provided to members of the NJ National Guard (Air or Army)?

What do his actual original records show? Are they electronic or handwritten paper records? Why are those documents not provided?

Did all NJ National Guard members get the same treatment as the Adjutant General? If not, is there any relief provided to those who were treated worse?

Governor Christie, as Commander in Chief of the NJ National Guard, how will you address the problem of junior military members being treated worse than your Adjutant General when they may have been denied compensation and benefits that they would have received had they been treated the same?

 

[Jason Perry]

You know what else "smells wrong" here? According the IG Report, a Lt Col in the Air Force was the person who allegedly input erroneous passing scores for the TAG....

Well, let's check out AFI AFI36-2905....the person who is responsible for inputting entries into the Air Force Fitness Management System is the following:

"2.11. AFRC Fitness Program Manager (FPM). 2.11.1. Senior noncommissioned officer, officer, or civilian equivalent appointed by the AFRC/CC or AFRC/CV."

Why was a Lt Col acting as the AFRC Fitness Program Manager (FPM)? I am not sure why senior field grade officer is acting as an FPM. It suggests misconduct. I would ask how many other times/instances did this officer act as an FPM and if s/he was appointed on orders to this position. I have my suspicions about this.

Something smells wrong here....it seems bizarre to me that a Lt Col is the officer who is inputting info into AFFMS for anyone. This job would normally fall to a Non-commissioned Officer. Certainly, it is bizarre and non-standard for a senior field grade officer to be inputting fitness information into AFFMS.

If I were an intrepid investigating officer and/or a journalist/reporter, I would ask how many other folks the Lt Col also input information for....if a "one off" this suggests intentional misconduct.

 

[danieldresen]

Nothing but irony... forgive my language but you have one fat crooked bastard politician calling the kettle black. Hell, even my state TAG is a fat @$$ that should be failing standards but because of the whole Good Ole Boy mentality in the National Guard, and the whole buddy buddy part with the governor here... he isn't going to be called out. In fact... In my WHOLE career... I have only seen 4 Generals that appear to meet Height and Weight standards. These guys, and lady were Active Duty. Never seen a guard General that could pass, let alone pass up a donut... I am, and was considerably smaller than MG Baldwin of California, even when I weighed at my maximum weight from steroids... 268. I am now 236 and declining steadily. The audacity of this... it... it makes me furious but also makes me laugh and cry. Hopefully enough of these issues are brought to light because the national guard needs a major Top down revamp if it is to remain a relevant force. Getting off my soap box now.

 

[cssamo]

The governor appoints his own Adjutant General for the National Guard. Why don't he just replace him with someone else? IF Christy had any respect for the his friend, the AG, then he would have taken care of this without the media knowing about it. Kind of sad that he would treat his friend like this. Especially knowing that Christy had weight loss surgery a year or two ago.

 

[chaplaincharlie]

Being over weight is an American epidemic.

 

[Jason Perry]

A few updates on this issue:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...93ac4c-57bc-11e5-abe9-27d53f250b11_story.html
(Detailing several problems with the NJ National Guard).

http://nj1015.com/head-of-new-jersey-national-guard-meets-fitness-deadline/
(Stating that the Adjutant General, Brigadier General Cunniff, met the standards).

Good for the TAG if he actually met standards. I would like to know more about the circumstances and results of his PT test results (especially in the context of other Soldiers and Airmen under his command who may have been separated for not meeting the standards).

 

[gsfowler]

I had a similar situation while in the Army reserves. Our unit was conducting a PT test I was a grader. Since I was in a medical unit (surgical) the majority of the UMR was officers.

There was a Major that I was administering a test for, whom I had never seen in my 12 or 13 years of being in the unit. He could barely do a push up, nor a sit up. As part of the testing protocol in the Army, if the test cannot be performed to standard within the first 10 repetitions, you terminate the test and send the participant to the back of the line to start over.

After I had sent the Major to the back, some LTC walks up to me, pulls me aside and tells me "you will pass this Major, he is a Vascular Surgeon and more important to the Army than you will ever be".

I set down my clipboard and walked away from the event. Not a word was ever said to me about it after the fact.

 

[Jason Perry]

I had a similar situation while in the Army reserves. Our unit was conducting a PT test I was a grader. Since I was in a medical unit (surgical) the majority of the UMR was officers.

There was a Major that I was administering a test for, whom I had never seen in my 12 or 13 years of being in the unit. He could barely do a push up, nor a sit up. As part of the testing protocol in the Army, if the test cannot be performed to standard within the first 10 repetitions, you terminate the test and send the participant to the back of the line to start over.

After I had sent the Major to the back, some LTC walks up to me, pulls me aside and tells me "you will pass this Major, he is a Vascular Surgeon and more important to the Army than you will ever be".

I set down my clipboard and walked away from the event. Not a word was ever said to me about it after the fact.

Your post speaks to a few things. First, standards are standards. If they are to mean anything, they must be applied uniformly. However, yes, there are good reasons to not have standards that are uniform. If that MAJ was, in fact, a uniquely skilled surgeon and saved lives, but could not/cannot pass a PT test and his "value" outweighed not being able to pass a PT test, then that speaks to having a rule or policy to excuse certain folks (maybe determined at the O6 or General Officer level) from the standard. But, as it stands, there is no such policy or rule. Laws, rules, policies, etc. should be followed. If there is a reason to change the rules or have exceptions, they should be spelled out and codified. Else, you don't really have rules....you have an arbitrary system.

 

[FloridaInjuredInCombat]

I had a similar situation while in the Army reserves. Our unit was conducting a PT test I was a grader. Since I was in a medical unit (surgical) the majority of the UMR was officers.

There was a Major that I was administering a test for, whom I had never seen in my 12 or 13 years of being in the unit. He could barely do a push up, nor a sit up. As part of the testing protocol in the Army, if the test cannot be performed to standard within the first 10 repetitions, you terminate the test and send the participant to the back of the line to start over.

After I had sent the Major to the back, some LTC walks up to me, pulls me aside and tells me "you will pass this Major, he is a Vascular Surgeon and more important to the Army than you will ever be".

I set down my clipboard and walked away from the event. Not a word was ever said to me about it after the fact.

I doubt any Soldier whose arm, leg, or life the surgeon saved would care one bit if he passed or failed an APFT, so in this one singular instance I would support looking the other way. Sometimes, rules have to thrown out for the greater good, but its a slippery slope.