It's sad that this even needs to be said, but this is the world we live in

Being a Fatty McFatCakes is NOT a service related disability.  Senior officers/NCOs in the USAR and ARNG hardest hit.

Obesity cannot be considered a service-connected disability, according to a new ruling by the Department of Veterans Affairs General Counsel expected to be published in the April 8, 2019, edition of the Federal Register. The new ruling, among several precedent opinions set to be included, reinforces the VA's long-standing opinion that obesity isn't a disease or injury according to the law for wartime or peacetime compensation and can't be considered directly related to military service for compensation purposes. 

The number of people I've seen waddling up to the door of my unit, with their uniform stretched to the breaking point, makes me rather angry.  I actively work to either get the people I am responsible for to be A) in shape, or B) out of the Army if they can't put the fork down.

If you have an injury that prevents you from working out, then you should be getting compensation for that injury.  But if you're a fat-ass, and you can't be bothered to do a minimum of exercise, that's on YOU, not the Army.  I've been unable to run for the past six months thanks to a fractured sesamoid bone in my foot, but I've found other ways to exercise so that I don't get fat.  Getting fat is bad, m'kay?  Especially when the Army will kick you out for being fat, and I rather enjoy being able to see Mr. Happy when I look down.  Which is a total non sequitur, but it's still rather important to the Mrs.

While the VA treats obesity as a disease for which treatment is warranted, the distinction is in the words "service-connected." The VA simply does not see it as a condition that was a result of military service, and therefore for which compensation is payable. 

Oh yes, obesity is treatable.  Stop drinking beer.  Stop eating fried everything with fried sauces on top. 

When I was stationed in Wisconsin, I worked with another Soldier from Georgia who was so fat even his fingers were plump.  He did enjoy his fried chicken.  He retired sometime in 2012, and was dead from a massive heart attack by 2014.  He had probably gained another 50-100 pounds from his rather hefty retirement weight. 

I think he was 51 or so.

Put the fork down.  Eat an apple instead of a donut.  Cut down on the beer, like I did.  And I love beer, folks.  I really, really do like beer, but it makes me fat so out it went.  My diet has had to change multiple times depending on what it was doing to my body, and I figure that it'll change a couple more times once I retire and grow a beard and put up signs around my house saying "Trespassers will be shot; Survivors will be shot again".  But don't ever blame anyone else for you being fat.  If you're fat, it's because YOU made the choices that made you fat.  The VA shouldn't have to pay for that.