Retired military generals: Recruits dismissed for obesity cost $1.1 billion a year | MLive.com

Retired military generals: Recruits dismissed for obesity cost $1.1 billion a year | MLive.com: This provision is important to us, as retired major generals who have grave concerns about the health and physical fitness of our military. The data also shows that excess weight impacts those who have already enlisted as well. Every year, the military discharges over 1,200 first-term enlistees before their contracts are up due to weight problems; the military must then recruit and train their replacements at a cost of $75,000 per person, totaling roughly $90 million annually. This pales in comparison to the estimated $1.1 billion per year that the Department of Defense has spent on medical care associated with excess fat and obesity.