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AT THE FOREFRONT

Forging the Future: The Renegade Way (Cont’d)

said, “I feel with this experience, I’ll be more competitive for a budget- S8 or G8 position
compared to someone who’s been in a Financial Management Support Unit (FMSU) their whole
career.” However, you slice it, the Soldiers have demonstrated their willingness to learn and
dramatically increased the range of their Resource Management knowledge and skills.

With threats often unforeseen, any strategic advantage you can build is essential to
mission success. New ideas and concepts don’t always pan out, but if you don’t give any of
them a chance, you may never unlock an organization’s true potential. Whether the
augmentation of the G8 remains a permanent change for future deployed units remains to be
seen, however, it’s clear the Renegade Soldiers and G8 civilians have morphed themselves into
a productive, efficient team maximizing USAREUR-AF’s available resources.
In case you missed the SMA Townhall on March 9, 2023

ARMY BODY COMPOSITION PROGRAM CHANGES

The SMA, G1 SGM, and Dr. Holly McClung (lead researcher on Army Comprehensive Body
Composition Study) held a town hall discussion yesterday to discuss forthcoming changes to the
Army Body Composition Program.

The proposed changes are planned for TWO Army Directives. The first will cover exemptions for
ACFT high performers and is projected for release in two weeks. The second will cover changes to
AR 600-9 to modernize the tape test protocol and allow for bioelectrical impedance and dual x-ray
absorptiometry.

Additional notes from the study and discussion:

Soldiers who exceed AR 600-9 standards are 50% more likely to have a MSK injury.

There were no significant differences in tape test’s accuracy across race or ethnicity.

34% of soldiers pass tape when more accurate methods (DEXA) indicate they should have failed.
2% of men and 5% of women fail the tape test despite passing DEXA.

Experiments with loosening the height/weight table standards didn’t result in protecting soldiers
who were overestimated, it only protected more overweight soldiers from getting identified
correctly.

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