Body-building airman tagged ‘fat’

Press, 23 April 1984, Page 16

Body-building airman tagged ‘fat’

NZPA Bangor, Maine The United States Air Force has ordered a bodybuilding airman to shed izkg and stop weightlifting, but one of his superiors says Staff-Sergeant Paul Poulin “in no way looks overweight.”

Senator William Cohen (Republican) says it is the Air Force that is guilty of “flabby thinking.” Sergeant Poulin, aged 23, of Augusta, Maine, has been termed “clinically obese” by his superiors, even though

the 92kg packed onto his 168 cm frame measures less than 19 per cent fat, according to the service’s own medical tests. That falls within the ideal composition.

Sergeant Poulin’s father, Mr Gerard Poulin, said his son would be discharged from the Air Force in six months. He said his son won 18 strong-man titles in his teens, including “Mr Teenage New England,” and third in “Junior Mr America.”

Sergeant Poulin is contesting an order that he lose weight or leave the militaT .

He is assigned to the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, and is described by his commander as a topflight sergeant. “One of the finest, hardworking, most knowledgeable people in the administration career field I have seen in almost 16 years in the Air Force,” was Captain Charlene Kogler’s assess-

ment of Sergeant Poulin. She said he was “suffering from the consequences of somebody’s inattention to detail at the Armed Forces induction centre. He should never have been able to enlist, he was not qualified. He failed to meet Air Force weight standards.” But now, said Captain Kogler, “he should not be forced to lose the weight since he is a body-builder and in no way looks overweight.”