Height and Weight Requirements

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Specializes in Critical Care.

How closely does the Army and/or Navy follow the height and weight requirements for the Nurse Corps?

I have seen varied levels of fitness for nurses in the military, and was just wondring if they bend the rules at all...........

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Speaking from the Army side, they are pretty stiff. It depends how far away you are. Have you been measured yet? I am way over the Height/weight standards but they have an alternative which is tape measuring for body fat percentage. As long as you pass the PT test and tape you are a go. Im am just finishing OBLC and I have come so far since my first PT test. You will be amazed how in-shape you get from running a few days a week and eating better (notice I didn't say healthy), you just have to jog and keep the calories down. Hope this helps.

- 2LT Sobek, AN

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Speaking from the Army side, they are pretty stiff. It depends how far away you are. Have you been measured yet? I am way over the Height/weight standards but they have an alternative which is tape measuring for body fat percentage. As long as you pass the PT test and tape you are a go. Im am just finishing OBLC and I have come so far since my first PT test. You will be amazed how in-shape you get from running a few days a week and eating better (notice I didn't say healthy), you just have to jog and keep the calories down. Hope this helps.

- 2LT Sobek, AN

Yes it does. I am over the H/W requirements too. I am just meeting with an Army recruiter in a few weeks and Navy after that. I have put off meeting with them until I got closer to goal weight, but then seeing other nurses overweight I began to wonder........ I might pass the tape test, and I'm working (hard) on the PFTs. Thanks for the answer. Great to hear you are nearly done with OBLC - that is great :up:. Are you AD or reserve duty? I'm looking into reserves. Can I ask what made you choose the Army over the other branches? I'm still considering all options....

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I'm AD and I chose the Army because at the time I joined, the recruiter was awesome. I just added a post about the which service is best also. It really comes down to finding out what each branch can offer you. They will use you how ever they see fit, but as long as you get what you want while helping them, that's what it's all about. I'm also going to Hawaii for my first duty assignment so the Army isn't that bad.

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I'm in the same boat... wanna contact a recruiter but, I am over the body weight.

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Specializes in ER, NICU.

Here is a link to the Army tape test spread sheet.

http://www.armybytes.com/downloads.shtml

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
I'm in the same boat... wanna contact a recruiter but, I am over the body weight.

Back in about March or so, I contacted an army recruiter and a navy recruiter. I knew I didn't met the weight requirement for either branch, I was 20 pounds from the army requirement and 10 pounds from the navy requirement. The navy recruiter told me that she would feel better if I lost about 5 pounds before she would feel comfortable taking me to MEPS. The army recruiter on the other hand told me it was no problem and he would take me to a private doctor instead. I didn't even meet the tape requirement, at the time.

Needless to say I choose army and now I'm seeing that probably wasn't the best decision for me. Like someone mentioned in another thread, the military will accept people who don't meet the weight requirement but what the recruiter(s) fail to tell people is that it will be a problem eventually if you don't meet tape and/or can't pass the pt test. If I can do it all over again, I would've waited until I was physically fit before signing my name. Now that OBLC is almost here for me, I'm working extra hard to be in the shape I need to be for OBLC. If you plan on taking the bonus and/or loan repayment the added pressure is there because the contract basically says if you can't meet the army requirement (which includes the physical requirement) you aren't getting anything but you'll still be AD.

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Specializes in Neuro, Surgical, Trauma and ICU..

I had the same problem. Like I mentioned in another thread. I had to loose a few pounds before going to MEPS :banghead:. Hopefully I won't be longwinded about my weight experience. I knew I was significantly over the height and weight standards. However because I am a army brat(father ret as a drill sergeant) I knew about the tape test.

I took a chance and wanted to know more information regardless of rather I was over so I met with the navy recruiter first. My recruiter was very informative and didn't hesitate to start the process. She weighed me and then told me in July really frank. "We are going to plan for October application and go to MEPS, I need you to loose as much weight as possible to pass the tape test":up:. I told her as long as you work on my stuff I will work on the lbs. I have been dieting since July, working out seriously and I'm down 41 lbs :yeah:!!!! I'm an inch away on my tape test. I go see my recruiter every 2 weeks and she tapes me to see where I'm at. I have even purchased my own measuring tape to keep up with my progress :D.

Now, for the negative part when I went to meet with the army recruiter he took one look at me back in July and was like "once you get your self TOGETHER then come and we will start the process" :imbar. At the time I was a little offended that he didn't believe I could do it however it ended up being a blessing anyway. I also met with the AF recruiter and he seemed pretty objective.

I agree with Deetonia, my father told me that they would get recruits (enlisted) all the time who didn't meet height/weight or tape and he would get keep them after everyone was done to do "extra Pt":eek:. They would have more pressure on them because they had to pass by the end of basic. I would rather put the pressure on myself before I get to training rather then someone putting pressure on me starring :coollook: at my love handles wondering when they are going to disappear.

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Specializes in Neuro, Surgical, Trauma and ICU..

here are some resources to see where you are at:

http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives/06000%20Medical%20and%20Dental%20Services/06-100%20General%20Physical%20Fitness/6110.1H.pdf

http://www.usnavy.vt.edu/CurrentStudents/PhysFitness/Percent%20Bodyfat.pdf

http://www.navy-prt.com/

the last one is a great resource on how to get ready for the pt test running. I'm using the running and sit-up/push up training plan.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Deetonia and SassySailor I can't thank you both enough for being so candid and honest. You have both confimed my gut instinct -wait until I lose the weight. I've lost 30lbs already, but still have a bit more to lose.....

Thanks again :)

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Hey, I thought that I would add my 2 cents to this discussion. I am prior Army, going USAF. While I was in the Army I was stationed at a Navy base, so I can speak on all three services. I never had a problem with the weight while I was in. At one point I was under weight, but today that's a different story. When we decided to go to meps I told my USAF recruiter that I thought that I was over weight by 10 lbs. He said not to worry that he was sure that I would pass the tape test. But I know how the military works, even if you pass the tape test they still look down on you for being overweight. So I made it a point to burn off 10 lbs the next week for MEPS. I came in right on target. Bottom line, don't give them an excuse to mess with you...

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Thank you for the advice. I thought as much and will follow your advice :)

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