Re: Question about military PT requirements.

Question about military PT requirements.

Crass was ne'er put on Hog Jog...so thar***

they all changed in the last few years

Re: they all changed in the last few years

they all changed in the last few years

Happy birthday to you too

Way low. They've also had to lower ASVAB requirements. It's so hard to find kids that aren't overweight or out of shape that are ready for basic, that the army developed a new program that is like a fat camp that you go to BEFORE basic...

It's called the FSPC (Future Soldier Preparatory Course)
https://www.army.mil/article/258758/army_announces_creation_of_future_soldier_preparatory_course

The Future Soldier Preparatory Course pilot program - set to start in early August at Fort Jackson, SC - will provide education and training to help American youth overcome academic and physical fitness barriers to military service.

“The Future Soldier Prep Course allows recruits, who meet all other qualifications for enlistment, a path to serve,” said Gen. Paul E. Funk II, Commanding General, Training and Doctrine Command. “The young men and women who will participate in this pilot have the desire to improve themselves and want to honorably serve their country. This course is a great way to increase opportunities for them to serve without sacrificing the quality needed across our force.”

The course is in response to the precipitous drop in the number of young Americans meeting Army enlistment standards. Only 23 percent fully meet the Army’s eligibility requirements, down from 29 percent in recent years. The effects of the COVID pandemic over the past two years have only exacerbated barriers to enlistment for many young Americans, with drops in test scores and rising obesity across the nation.

tabbyplague®

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For my whole career in the Army it was the APFT which consisted of

Nov 12, 2023, 1:08 PM

2 minutes of Pushups, Situps and a timed 2-mile run. The standards for each of these events were separated by male/female and age. The Army kept this test for a long time simply because it was easy to administer and required nothing more than a stop-watch and a measured distance for the 2-mile run.

Somewhere in the late '80s they upped the standards (made them harder) and those standards held for the duration of my career until I retired in 2015.

I don't know if this was always the case during my career but I know that when the Army was in dire need of people from 2006 onward new recruits were only required to score a minimum 50 points in each category of the APFT to graduate Basic Training. In order to graduate AIT (Advanced Individual Training) they had to score 60 or more points which is the bare minimum to pass the APFT.

Now... the APFT was just the beginning of fitness - we did a lot more than just the APFT on a daily basis. If you were in a line unit (combat units) we routinely did obstacle courses, road marches (i.e. "ruck runs"), 4 to 5-mile Fartlek runs with calisthenics at certain points, combatives, and other "combat" types of physical training.

In the line units NCOs were expected to score at least 80 points (240 total and above) in each APFT category and officers who scored below 90 (270 total) in each category were in jeopardy of having a less than stellar performance evaluation. For example, General Petraeus required all officers to attach their certified PT cards to their officer evaluation support forms. Woe be unto the officer that was below a 270 on their PT test.

Most of my career I max'd the PT test (300 pts) for whatever age group I was in because that was my own expectation for being a leader. Sure - you could find some dirtbags who had passing but substandard APFTs but they also generally suffered the consequences on their evaluations. I generally found that NCOs and Officers that excelled at PT also excelled at their other job requirements as well. Ultimately The APFT was far from being the whole of Army physical fitness - at least while I was on active duty.

The Army has now gone to this Combat Fitness Test which is resource intensive. Gone are the days of quickly doing a base line APFT with just a stopwatch. The CFT came in after I retired so I have no idea as to the real difficulty of the test.

What I do know from talking to some folks still serving that I knew when I was in is that the physical fitness is still multi-faceted in the line units and the basics of physical training haven't really changed. They are having problems in the younger generation of Soldiers who are taking much longer to get to a baseline of "combat" ready physical fitness and this detracts from other important combat training.

From what I'm hearing - it's not so much the end game of physical fitness in the military has changed as it is getting today's youth to meet that standard. Unfortunately the overall sorry shape of our young military aged population in the USA is dismally bad compared to past generations. The Army can't immediately throw most of the youth into the types of military physical training that two generations ago were considered a little challenging but were well within the reach of most young adults throughout our society.

That, unfortunately, is not the case today. The sedentary lifestyles of today's youth have brought about an epidemic of overweight/obesity contributing to weak muscles, low cardio ability, and easily damaged body joints that is causing fits for the military. It is just a fact that today's recruits are not physically able to do what most of the past generations could physically do starting day 1 of training.

So in my mind - any lowering of PT standards is mainly for the entry level people in order to allow them to come into the service in order to fill our ranks. But I'm also hearing that the "combat standards" in the line units are, for the most part, remaining in place but we are having to spend a lot more time getting the younger folks up to those standards which ultimately affects other areas of readiness.

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Question about military PT requirements.

Crass was ne'er put on Hog Jog...so thar***

they all changed in the last few years

Re: they all changed in the last few years

Re: they all changed in the last few years

Let us know how you do

Re: Let us know how you do

Yes***

Re: Yes***

Happy birthday to you too

I just did it... with guessing i could do an

So the pft is just a regular run.

Re: So the pft is just a regular run.

Re: I just did it... with guessing i could do an

Re: I just did it... with guessing i could do an

Yes, its stupid easy for recruiting and retention.***

Was fairley easy in the '80s when I served.