I've been watching some footage from WW2 and I've noticed a large number of skinny soldiers most notably in the German forces (Wehrmacht and SS) but also in Soviet and British units. Does anyone know the minimal weight and height requirements for any group? Was it because of the speed the Germans were doing? How did it effect their operational skills?
You can do long distance conditioning without being big.
Only modern forces can afford to be large via shit like whey protein. Back than you give them enough food to run for ~15 miles with heavy equipment and call it good.
Looking at photographs from WWII to Vietnam, most soldiers weren't particularly buff at all. They were usually average looking in physique to skinny. I recall the term 'combat weight' being applied to this.
>>408518
What you don't know, OP, is that people were a lot skinnier back in the day. With the rise of obesity and such, people have forgotten that ths average person was actually pretty for today's standard
>>408546
Was actually pretty skinny*
>>408518
The truth is anon that people in general used to be a lot less hefty and soldiers especially are gonna be lean from all the marching and shit. Military drills focus on cardio and core strength. Having huge arms isn't as big of an advantage in the military as you'd imagine.
>>408518
They were skinny because of the enormous amount of constant physical exertion.
To maintain a higher % of bodyfat would require an enormous amount of calories which just wasn't possible at the time.
>>408518
when you dont eat a lot and you move around a lot while carrying loads of gear you tend to get ottermode pretty quick op.
>>408518
My Grandma's brother was in WW2. Apparently he was only like 5'5" and pretty skinny as well. I remember she had his army hat from the war, and at like 10 years old, it didnt fit me.
I'd like to point out that malnutrition during the ww1 and The Great Depression of the 30s had an effect on the fighting generation of ww2.
>>408582
>ottermode
Soldiers aren't ottermode, they're skinny.
>>408518
Contrary to popular belief, a good soldier is built more like a cross-country skier or runner, and NOT like a body builder.
ENDURANCE is where it's at. Why? Because you've got to be able to hump your kit day and night, and in all kinds of terrain, on limited sleep, and limited food. WW II troops did most of their movement on foot, as will most troops in a conventional fight, and this means they burned a shit ton of calories, and after the daily march, they got the opportunity to dig fighting positions, which burned more calories. That's why all those fuckers were skinny.
The "war" in Iraq and A-stan was more like a police action, and outside of the humping done in A-stan, and some building clearing in Iraq, most of the shit was done by vehicle, and from FOB's. Dude's could actually deploy and get BIGGER in Iraq, due to the fact that some of them would do a daily vehicular patrol, and then come back to a FOB where they could eat and lift weights. The fucking support pukes hardly EVER left the wire and could get fat as shit, or muscular, depending on how much of a shit bag they were. In a truly conventional war, troops won't get such luxuries.
>>408518
Not in the Army yet, but I'm a cadet at a Senior Military College and they run us 5+ miles a day in the mornings for PT and I shed 18 pounds in the first two months.
Running gets you small.
The only big guys are the upperclassmen and bulls because they are allowed at the rec and can spend their days lifting.
>>408784
this is truth
at stalingrad the proud aryan soldiers were the first to go and the skinny manlet could survive eating shoes
>>408794
>stalingrad 1942
>be waffen ss chad
>be the first to go
betas win in the end
Ww2 was only like 20 something tears after world war 1. Food was scarce for a while....want to see soinny soldier look at korean war. Soldier were so skinny that many complained north koreans were too strong. Its also one of the reason american diet changed...
>>408921
the ability to shoot your rifle when all you had is a can of beans while its raining heavily and gona freeze overnight, for an extended period of time
>>408784
Kind of piggy-backing off of this, I've heard that most Spec Ops guys are pretty lean. Not sure if true though.
>>408518
Fat people were a hell of a lot less common
>>408518
>why was the Wehrmacht, which had its supply lines cut off and given amphetamines, so skinny in Stalingrad
lol who knows??
>>409774
Yeah Spec Ops are usually pretty lean, same shit for rangers, snipers etc
>>409774
It's true.
Any organization that's tasked with dismounted infiltration, and that actually trains on a regular basis, will be lean as fuck, because you burn a lot of calories humping your kit on a daily basis.
