Just my $0.10 worth...
ALO's were briefed on this a while back and were given numbers a bit different from those shared here. Suffice it to say, they're "close enough" to not be worth much clarification/discussion.
We were also told that the RRS folks had been told "by their counterparts at USMA/USNA" that they had seen a similar impact. I don't know if their numbers were the "same or close" or what but RRS said it was significant at all three of the "big" academies. They didn't discuss KP or CGA.
What I've noticed recently (ie: Pet Peeve)...
Obesity was mentioned. Yes, that's a small issue but the bigger issue is an overall lack of fitness. What I've found in the past 20+ years is a steady decline in overall physical fitness ability. I'll use me as an example. I'm "old" according to my students. When I was in HS, oh those years ago (think Carter Era)...everyone took PE. And in "boys" PE we did silly things like the Presidential Physical Fitness Test (for a grade). We did pushups and pullups, and we climbed ropes from the gym floor to the ceiling rafters, rang a bell, and climbed down. We climbed cargo nets and had races to the top, and back down. And we ran miles...and we played games, etc., but everything was geared to physical strength improvement and cardio fitness.
Today...PE is often "an elective" that is waived if you take something else or are on a team, etc. I get kids enrolling in JROTC because the school district will waive their PE requirement if they do two years. I see healthy appearing males (6', 175) come to me and when we do the AFJROTC fitness test...they average 2 pullups (dead hang, pronated grip, pull their chin above the bar, return to full hang, repeat). Yes, I said TWO. Their average pushups (break 90 degrees going down, return to fully up, repeat) to be less than 25. Their mile run average is over 8:30 with most coming in near 10:00. Young ladies are comparable except they almost never can do a pullup and less than 10 pushups.
Kids aren't pressed physically in school. If you could test fitness by testing their thumb abilities...well, that'd be a different story. And it's telling. Last year, and I apologize as I didn't write down the precise number, but in my state we lost @16% of our candidates in the application process due to CFA failures. IMHO (ie: I don't have anything official on this) USAFA has gotten so used to seeing CFA failures, they appear to "almost" automatically offer a second chance. I say "almost" in that I've seen times where they didn't, but it's been a long time ago.
Okay, I'm going to climb off the soap box. I could take this for a long drive but...
Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83