Nation’s field grades begin annual fiscal year migration away from food
A new life cycle has begun.
THE PENTAGON — As the air cools and the first leaves drop, the Army’s field grades begin their annual migration away from buffets and towards the goal of making height/weight in time for the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year.
“We call it a reverse hibernation,” said Army wildlife specialist Dr. Steve Erwin. “Bears might fatten up for the winter in preparation for a long winter of food scarcity, but the North American greater army field grade, across the population, lose ten pounds in September and then gain it back at Christmas block leave.”
Erwin added that once a field grade talks about starting keto or intermittent fasting for the next month, it releases a pheromone that lets all the other field grades know to follow the herd and begin migration.
By tagging a few field grades with trackers, Erwin and his team assessed that the lines at Green Bean and Chipotle are usually half as long after the FY22 migration begins.
The annual cycle ends in the culling of the field grades, an early Octob…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Duffel Blog to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.