{"id":44369,"date":"2019-09-26T18:31:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T18:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/26\/esper-to-talk-with-secnav-about-the-flabby-navys-pt-program\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:18:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:18:00","slug":"esper-to-talk-with-secnav-about-the-flabby-navys-pt-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/09\/26\/esper-to-talk-with-secnav-about-the-flabby-navys-pt-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Esper to talk with SECNAV about the Navy\u2019s PT program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NORFOLK, Va. \u2015The Navy has the highest proportion of overweight personnel, according to a Defense Department report<\/a> released in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing an early morning workout with a group of local sailors, Defense Secretary Mark Esper isn\u2019t ready to single the service out, but he plans to have a conversation about the state of the Navy\u2019s physical fitness program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esper visited Norfolk sailors on Thursday, which included a pre-dawn workout on the bow of the battleship Wisconsin, now a waterside museum. When asked if he thought the Navy could use an occupational fitness test<\/a> similar to evaluations used by the Army and Marine Corps to measure combat readiness, he hesitated to issue any suggestions to the sea service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy view has been that there are things that the services should do, and I would leave it up to the services to determine if there\u2019s an occupational test, if you will,\u201d he told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\t