changes that could make a difference in the eligibility of significant numbers of potential recruits.

Table 1-1 presents the distribution of failure codes assigned in the medical examination and the waivers assigned in those failure codes by the various Services for applicants between May 2003 and April 2005. The top five disqualifiers are all part of the committee’s examination: body mass index (BMI)/weight (23.3 percent), marijuana (12.6 percent), psychiatric/mental health (6.1 percent), lower extremity/musculoskeletal (5.8 percent), and chest and lungs (5.3 percent). Together the top five disqualifiers account for 53 percent of the medical failures.

The committee’s evaluation of existing standards includes their effects on attrition and injury. Specifically, attrition was examined in basic training and through the first term of service. Measures relating to injury or illness include days lost, the need for hospitalization, cost, and attrition