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Subject: Average infantry height?
kane    5/11/2008 10:43:53 AM
What should be the height of an average infantry(exclude asians)? And does being taller makes someone stronger than the short one? Also what would be the advantages/disadvantages of being taller or shorter? And are there any standarts for recruiting to speacial military organisations?
 
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FJV       5/11/2008 5:21:10 PM
The nazi SS had a minimum height requirement of 1.80 meter.

The best would be to have different heights in my opinion. The tunnel rats in Vietnam are an example where small guys were better suited for the job.



 
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ArtyEngineer       5/11/2008 5:29:07 PM
I believe the British Army used to have some quite stringent height requirements for some regiments involved in the more cerimonial aspects of the British Armed forces.  I believe those have been relaxed to teh same as the rest of the armed forces.  The height requirements of the British and US armend forces are based on the ergonomics of the equipment the personnel are expected to use and operate.  Strength as a function of Height doesnt come into it.
 
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smitty237    US Army   5/13/2008 4:12:38 PM
When I went to boot camp in 1992 the minimum height for a soldier was five foot tall for both sexes.  I remember seeing at least two dwarfs at Ft. Benning that would have just made the cut.  There isn't a maximum height that I'm aware off, and I've seen more than a few guys that were 6'6" or taller.  The minimum height of the "Old Guard", which is responsible for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington D.C. is six foot tall.  They recruited for the Old Guard by handpicking tall soldiers from the chow line at the reception batallion at Ft. Benning!
 
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BasinBictory       5/21/2008 3:45:24 AM

What should be the height of an average infantry(exclude asians)?
And does being taller makes someone stronger than the short one?
Also what would be the advantages/disadvantages of being taller or shorter?
And are there any standarts for recruiting to speacial military organisations?


So asians are excluded from your infantry units? Why? As the Japanese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Filiipinos, Chinese, and others have shown, a few inches of height has very little bearing on soldiering ability.
 
Does being taller make someone stronger than shorter people? Perhaps on average, yes - if you take a group of men with a height of 5'9" and pit them in a contest of strength with a same number of men who are 6'3", (6 inches difference) then probably the taller men will win, but there would be a significant amount of overlap. The strongest 5'9" men would probably be well into the top 10% of strength if they were put into the 6'3" group.
 
Advantages of taller - basketball team. When armies tire of shooting each other, and decide to play basketball to settle international disputes, the taller men will win. Seriously, taller men are mor intimidating than shorter men. Probably not as much of a factor in today's modern battlefield compared to olden days when men fought with swords and spears, but psychological factor of seeing a host of tall soldiers is still there. That is why, as mentioned above, certain ceremonial units have a height requirement.
Advantages of shorter - able to fit into tighter spaces - able to get into small openings (like underground tunnels) and ride more comfortably in vehicles than perhaps taller soldiers.
 
Standards for recruiting to certain units? Well, as mentioned, some ceremonial units have a height requirement. The US Marines height requirement is only 5'2" for males, IIRC, 5'1" for the US Army. Flight units and paratroops actually have height limits - you cannot be too tall, or you won't be able to join.
 
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Old Grunt    DOD Instruction #6130.4...   5/21/2008 12:33:03 PM
 the authority for medical standards for the DOD  It states the following:
"E1.19 HEIGHT
The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment, or induction shall be established
by the Military Services."
So as far as the DOD is concerned, there is neither a minimum or maximum height.
Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) Regulation 40-1, paragraph 5-1b(1) directs the use of Army Regulation 40-501, Chapter 2 for medical qualifications for all branches of the Armed Forces (including the Coast Guard).   IAW AR 40-501 minimum height for accession is 60" for males, 58" for females.  Maximum height for males and females  is 80". There are no height restrictions for airborne training or service, in fact there are several pieces of equipment that cannot be jumped by paratroopers under 67".  Interesting note however is that all manned FCS vehicles seem to be designed around a driver that is at least 64" tall, but no more than 66" tall.
 
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timon_phocas       5/21/2008 2:03:36 PM
>>
Also what would be the advantages/disadvantages of being taller or shorter?
<<

Generally speaking, in hand to hand combat, greater reach means greater success. I found this to be true when I was fencing as well. So taller people should do better (assuming training is equal). From archeology, however, it has been established that the height of the average Roman legionnaire was between 4'8" and 5'0" (1,42 to 1,52 m). They regularly beat the tar out of Celtic and German tribes whose men (to say nothing of their women) were much taller.
 
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longrifle       6/16/2008 11:01:12 PM
"There are no height restrictions for airborne training or service, in fact there are several pieces of equipment that cannot be jumped by paratroopers under 67"."  - Old Grunt
 
I just had a Dragon Missile Jump Pack flashback.  I was a 71" paratrooper.
 
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Yimmy       6/28/2008 7:20:54 AM
Height, with the healthy corresponding weight, means on average you carry a lesser fraction of your body weight compared to a short person, while your strides are longer on average due to longer legs = good for tabbing.
 
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maiar    Roman legion   6/28/2008 7:04:18 PM
The roman legion hight was set to 5.10 - 6 feet.
They wher small next to celts and germanic tribes witch had soldiers near 7 feet.
Yet the romans slayed numericaly superior enemies in close quarters. What maters is not bigger body but the training and equipment. It comes up all over history. I whuld face a 7 fot infantery man any day, in a fist fight, or on the feld instead of a smaller SF soldier.
Knowlege is power
 
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Yimmy       6/28/2008 11:07:07 PM
SF doesn't mean superman.  That 7ft infantry soldier may not be sneaky beaky, but that doesn't mean he couldn't beat you to a pulp.
 
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