Overweight? Asthmatic? Australia's army wants you

Australia will likely lower recruitment standards to let overweight people and mild asthmatics join up as it tries to boost troop numbers to combat regional instability, the nation's top soldier said Sunday.

Prime Minister John Howard last week unveiled a A$10 billion ($7.6 billion) plan to add two new battalions, or 2,600 troops, to the Australian army despite falling armed forces numbers.

Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy, head of the Australian army, said he was confident new recruitment targets that amounted to 500 new troops a year would be met, even if it meant lowering recruitment standards on health and weight.

"Sure some people might be a bit overweight, but we're good at getting people fit and taking the weight off them," Leahy told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.

"Clearly, we won't be able to take people who suffer very badly from asthma, but for those who might have had it as a child or might be just suffering on the edges, again concessions can be made and we can make sure that they're fit and healthy," he said.

Australia's military is already stretched as it maintains deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. More than 4,200 personnel are on duty overseas out of 51,000 full-time soldiers, sailors and air force personnel.

A report by security analysts the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said Australia had spent A$500 million over five years to build up the defense forces, but overall troop numbers had continued to fall.

It said in the past two years defense staffing levels remained 1,000 below target, while the number of people leaving the forces continued to increase to a high of almost 13 percent for the army and just over 12 percent for the navy.

Defense surveys say 30 percent of military personnel are considering quitting.

Howard said the military build-up was prompted by the rapid deterioration of law and order in the Solomon Islands and East Timor this year, and the potential for instability in Pacific nations like Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu.

Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, has argued that it is in its interest to prevent neighboring countries from become failed states that could in turn become havens for terror groups.

But some of Australia's neighbors have objected, with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare saying Australia was using the argument to justify increases in defense spending.

Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison sought to reassure nervous neighbors Sunday, two days after Australia said it would also put an extra 400 police on standby for deployment to international trouble spots.