Comfort food for troops can pack on the pounds

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CAMP RAMADI, Iraq -- There are many threats to the troops deployed here, but few as insidious as the bacon cheeseburger, French fries and soda.Reflecting what's happening across the United States, the military is fighting fat.Fitness is not just an ideal, it's a necessity in the military.But troops sometimes pack on the pounds, just like civilians. Sometimes they skirt the mandatory three-times-a-week physical training or help themselves to a few more trips around the lunch line."When I was at home, I just wasn't exercising much, and me and my wife like to go to the buffets," Builder Utilityman Bruce Beebe said after finishing a 3-mile run around Camp Ramadi.Beebe, who puts in 14-hour days tracking flights in and out of military bases, was able to pass basic physical tests, running a mile in less than 11 minutes and completing 60 or so sit-ups and push-ups in 2 minutes.But it was his weight that failed him.So he and 13 other Seabees with Naval Construction Battalion 3, who are based at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif. but are now stationed in Iraq, do "fitness enhancement training" five times a week.At one point, about 40 Seabees with the battalion had failed the military's physical standards. But the fitness program trimmed down and shaped up all but 14 troops.Battalion Cmdr. Tony Edmonds said his battalion is doing much better than the military as a whole. The odd thing about Camp Ramadi is that the food is so good that troops end up putting on weight, despite the blazing heat.Beebe said his favorite meal is the weekly surf and turf -- steak and crab legs. There's also an ice cream bar and a fast-food burger option at every meal.Five years into the war in Iraq, Forward Operating Bases such as this one -- and others much larger -- have developed into mini-American towns.On some bases, troops fresh off of a patrol can stroll in for a sandwich at a makeshift Subway, grab a pie at Pizza Hut or get a Whopper from Burger King. Even in the chow hall, where contractors prepare the meals, there are plenty of fast-food options -- the kind many young troops typically reach for first.Such amenities are meant to provide some comfort for troops wrestling with dangerous situations and long deployments. But they've also made it difficult to keep off the pounds.Postal Clerk 1st Class Monica Adams, one of the leaders of the physical enhancement program, said sometimes it's not always about what people eat."Some people are just made different," said Adams, who tries to mix up the program, from running to circuit training.If someone can pass the physical test but not make the cutoff for the Body Mass Index measure of body fat -- 22 percent for men and 33 percent for women -- they can ask the commander for a waiver, she said. But if a Seabee fails a physical test three times in a row, he or she can be booted out of the Navy.That's unlikely for Beebe, who has dropped more than 20 pounds, to 213. The 33-year-old hopes to get his weight below 200 pounds.Sweating in the morning heat after his run, Beebe talked with fellow Seabee Gabriel Rodriguez, 23, about food options. Rodriguez is partial to French toast, and they both like the fried shrimp. But when Rodriguez mentioned his daily ration of ice cream, Beebe hesitated."I've only had ice cream here once," he said.(Contact Scott Hadly of the Ventura County Star in California at shadly(at)venturacountystar.com.)