Health wise, was probably the best thing I could have done. I had to stay in shape to meet the guidelines to avoid being booted. Besides, you're around a bunch of active people, so you do active things. If you want to take that up a notch, the Army and USMC are even more active. Navy people get stuck on ships for 6+ months at a time, and it's difficult to sustain the same activity level on board a ship. I used to put on 10 lbs during every deployment, but I was able to get that off in 4-6 weeks after returning.

I didn't learn how to eat to control my weight until a few years ago. Wish I had known that sooner, since those low fat/high carb diets were extremely difficult to control one's weight. Low carb diets work, and I should have eaten that way the day I left VT.

Heck, just avoiding processed foods and simple carbohydrates would do wonders for an active lifestyle, and the percentages of Type II diabetes would be significantly reduced in this country. If I had to wager a guess, would think at least 80%+ fewer people would be affected. But we are a junk food society...