Minimum fitness standards for joining AFM

A non-swimmer or non-driver is not excluded from joining the army, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told Parliament yesterday.

In an obvious reference to the case of the late Gunner Matthew Psaila, who died after finding himself in difficulties during an army exercise at Chadwick Lakes, Dr Gonzi told Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia, in reply to a parliamentary question, that anyone seeking to join the AFM must satisfy medical fitness standards established by the army, based on the standards of professional armies overseas.

But the fact that one had difficulties to drive a vehicle or swim did not exclude one from joining the army.

Dr Gonzi said conditions which made a person ineligible to join the army were psychiatric disorders, including disorders with psychotic features, mood disorders, personality behaviour or academic skills disorders, psycho-sexual disorders and substance misuse.