The new Army PT Test
Jerry920 tells us that the Army has developed a new PT test that used to be a two-mile run, 2 minutes of push-ups and two minutes of sit-ups. It was easy to set up to test and easy to understand. Now they’ve dragged back some of the old elements;
The new “physical readiness” test adds such things as a 60-yard shuttle run and a standing long jump to one minute of push-ups and a 1.5-mile timed run. This might be given every six months, said Frank Palkoska, head of the Army’s Fitness School at Fort Jackson.
A “combat readiness” test includes running 400 meters with a rifle, moving through an obstacle course in full combat gear, and crawling and vaulting over obstacles while aiming a rifle. Soldiers also have to run on a balance beam while carrying a 30-pound ammo box and do an agility sprint around a course field of cones.
To test pulling a fallen comrade from the battlefield, soldiers must drag a sled weighted with 180 pounds of sandbags. That combat portion of the test might be given only before deployments, but that has not been decided.
The tests will be given to all soldiers and officers, including Army Reserves and National Guard, even those recalled soldiers who are now 60-years plus, officials said.
And, of course, all of the talk about equality among women and male soldiers dissipates when we talk about PT tests, because we all know that bullets are less effective against women in uniform;
Specific standards for men, women and by age ranges are still being worked out, Palkoska said.
So, “combat readiness” is a moving target, so to speak.
I was around when the old PT test was around – run, dodge and jump, the inverted crawl, the horizontal ladder, two mile run in boots. I was sure glad when the three event PT came in. Then I went to the old Master Fitness Course (don’t laugh, it was worth 9 college credits including a lab) and learned the principles behind the three-event test and it made sense.
It looks like PT tests are going to be an all-day event for some units. I don’t know how productive that will be. But, for the first time I’m glad I’m out.
Category: Military issues
Marines lead the way again.
Expect the balance beam BS to be deleted after some of the effete elite twist their ankles.
Given the weights involved, expect a serious reduction in the standard for women.
It’s a step. Perhaps not in the right direction, but at least they didn’t go backwards.
Dear God this will make it insane to get a perfect score.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if “combat readiness” PT is the function of individual units? I really wish Generals would stop F**king around with things so they can have bullets on their OER
Great, that means reserve units that only meet one weekend a month now must spend an entire day conducting a PT test on top of all the other required useless administrative BS (like POSH training every 6-months or so) that takes away from real training.
I can anticipate that this is going to be an ordeal for the Guard and Reserve to get done every year.
More than an ordeal!
All of the gear and equipment needed will have to be sent to each unit and installed, since my Guard unit doesn’t have an obstacle course or balance beam handy. I suspect most Guard and Reserve units will instead have to settle for having a PT facility at their nearest major base, which means a 3 hour drive for my unit to Camp Ripley or Fort McCoy, just to take a PT test.
The other big thing in this? Injuries. The current PT test is very safe, with the biggest danger being a twisted ankle running on an icy road here in Minnesota. Now a patch of ice on the balance beam could cause the sudden acceleration of my nuts into my stomach (would I then be graded with the female scoring standard?).
While I am all in favor of higher PT standards, I suspect this new PT test will be done sporadically in the Guard and Reserve, like maybe only when mobilized.
Completely impractical. Can’t recall if it was the Sergent Major of the Army, or some other NCO, saying that he’d never run 2 miles in combat, which missed the point entirely, we were in for it. As soon as I heard the Army was going to “update” the test, I knew it would be used to justify pushing women into MOS’ they should’nt be in.
I am so glad that the situps are going the way of the dinosaur. That was always the one event that dragged my score down. The shuttle run will give a chance to evaluate a soldiers anerobic performance. Also the moving in IBA and Kevlar will be a good evaluation of pt. I just wish they would add an event involving a road march.
I like the Canadian Forces’ PFT: grab all your kit, put it in the ruck, grab the rifle and haul tuckus on a long forced road march.
March or die, no score beyond Pass or Fail.
I’d be surprised if this actually happens.
It wasn’t this complicated to invade Salerno.
If they are going to put women into combat, then there cannot be any double standard.
@Dave Thul…LOL I hear ya on the 3 hour drive to Ripley or McCoy. I’m in a unit south of the T/C Metro so yeah 3 hours or more to Ripley depending on if we are taking our trucks or riding a bus. I foresee this becoming a component of the 2 week A/T which will remove some of the most valuable time we have for training. This is quite frocked up. If they wish to make units combat ready then quit f’ing around with the PT test and make it similar to what other branches have. Leave the combat readiness part out of it so those of us in the Reserves and National Guard can actually get some training done on our limited time schedule. That is when we should be training for Combat Readiness.
We have to fire using our Kevlar, IBA/Body Armor, combat gloves, and knee/elbow pads per regulation so why not make the PT test simulate real life? Makes sense to me.
I’m looking forward to the LODs as soon as the three year Pentagon staffers try to cary 30 lbs across a beam. Not to mention all the no-gos on the first itteration and the NCOER/OER disruptions that will cause.
I never understood the combat effectiveness testing of the push up/sit-up/2 mile run. Obviously it took less equipment than the old test, basically all you needed was a flat road, a stop watch and a pencil and paper. The fact that it was “Gender normed” just ruined it to me as a measuring tool of soldier effectiveness. It wasn’t just gender normed a little, it was a lot.
I picked burrs out of my hands for a week from that damn inverted crawl.
because we all know that bullets are less effective against women in uniform
As well as the people around them.
What unit OG?
jerry920: The first time I did the inverted crawl, I broke my hand and spent the last 4 weeks of BCT and the first two weeks of AIT in a cast.
I am pleasantly surprised by this. I would call this a raising of the bar, something that is quite rare these days.
It seems that the military, like the rest of the known world, is constantly revising its standards in a downward direction. You can always tell when they’re it too, because the first thing they will do it to deny that it’s lowering of standards, referring to it instead as “updating” or “revising” standards.
But here we have the opposite.
“To test pulling a fallen comrade from the battlefield, soldiers must drag a sled weighted with 180 pounds of sandbags.”
That’s some hoo-ah PT. I think that the number of females who will be able to do it will be about 1%. And for that reason, it will never happen.
Yeah. it makes some sense…but…but…but…
There are Army units out there that don’t have all that stuff, and I am not talking about the course and the ballet bar. I am talking about weapons, hemets, body armor, etc etc etc. Hell, I am not even required to qualify on a weapon anymore- they used a simulator last year for us and if sucked so bad they stopped doing it.
Once again it seems the Army is jumping into a shit filled foxhole…oops, sorry, fighting position, without putting on their gas mask…oops, I mean protective mask.
How’s that ‘Gay? It’s Good!’ training going?
As an “outsider looking inside the box” I’m thinking this is gonna be geared to the new DADT “sensitivity” training?
Any thoughts on that?
#20 Melony,
Nope. Sexual preference doesn’t play into this. What does is the absolute debacle we experienced early in OIF/OEF with joes who could run 2 miles in 10 minutes, do 100 push ups and sit ups, and required 10 other soldiers to evacuate them when their 100lbs+ gear and ruck overwhelmed them. Parade Deck Soldiers don’t fare well when compared to field dogs.
War opens eyes, as well as closing them. Don’t worry though! Somebody’ll figure out how to game the system.
#21 – Dave “Don’t worry though! Somebody’ll figure out how to game the system.”
Always!
This is not unexpected. It’s in line with the new/old physical readiness training manual, TC 3-22.20, which replace FM 21-20. If you go to armyprt.com, you can view it in all its glorious complexity.
They were implementing the new PRT in at least some TRADOC posts in 2004-5. The main reasons given were to reduce training injuries and improve overall fitness. Compared to traditional PT, it was very rigid and regimented, and we never got beyond the first drill or two of each type. I don’t know about overall fitness, but APFT scores dropped like stones. They assured us that this would be okay when the new APFT came out; in the meantime, we had to do PT on our own time (if we weren’t already) if we wanted to pass the APFT.
Once I left DLI, I never saw it again and I had hoped that it would die a quiet death somewhere. Apparently not. The new program requires equipment and facilities that we don’t have, even at our state Guard headquarters. Also, and I realize this doesn’t matter to anyone who makes decisions, it sucks all of the (already minimal) fun right out of PT and turns it into a tedious exercise in non-exercise. You don’t get injured, perhaps, but you don’t get smoked, either.
[Even writing something along the lines of “back when I was in training in 2004” makes me feel really young in this crowd. Fortunately, the kids at drill this weekend will think I’m old.]
Sig-
Ha! Try having to say ‘when I was in basic I got to meet Dick Cheney, who was the Secretary of Defense back then…’
If the idea is to make the PT test more realistic, then don’t stop there. Follow up the full battle rattle obstacle course with rifle qualification, and see what that does to shooting scores.
For a full fisking of the New PT Tests,
http://tcoverride.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-army-pt-test.html
I think both are a bad idea, and the most glaring reason it got this far: Many, Many PhD’s, Mr.s, and MD’s on the working group, ONE NCO, an LTC (MEDCOM) and a MAJ (G8.) I’m thinking the Drill Sergeant is not the push troops type, or else he’d be pushing troops, and the other two are definite paper hounds. In effect, zero input from the force.
@ 26 – Chuck. If memory serves me correctly it was sort of that way during the 70’s, too. lol. The flip side is, one could get a good laugh out of watching an upper echelon deciding this is good stuff beforehand, go out and screw the pooch on the course.
Just saying
@ 25 – Dave Thul. It could have been James R. Schlesinger that you met at BCT. rofl!
Really?? This was a priority? Turning PT into the TV show “Wipeout”. Don’t we already have an issue with non-deployable Soldiers? How many injuries is this going to cause? I’m all for train like you fight, fight like you train..but we have to use common sense.
Why the heck didn’t they ask the NFL or UFC or some other extreme sports trainers to develop something….safe. And rolling around with TA-50??? Isn’t that called training? Why incorporate it into the APFT? It’s already developed and assessed in other areas of daily activity.
And now that I’m on the Guard side of the house, having been a 1SG and now Ops (I moved States)..where the hell are we going to fit this into a MUTA 4…and still train? Normal Guard Units are strapped for time during a weekend already..APFT usually takes half the day anyway! Now…you can forget doing anything else on PT Day. A lot of standing around waiting for your turn to be the next contestant. And in a State’s Med Det…forget it. I guess maybe we can drill twice per month….or go to MUTA 6’s from here on out.
I sure wish they’d ask Leaders of Units when developing this crap.
That dragging a 180lb dead weight would be a test for me. I never weighed more then 160 and in truth my weight was normally around the 130 – 140 range. While I have always been skinny, I think the word used to describe me were wirey and sinewy. I could hang and in fact lead the pack a lot of the time but I had a body fat measurement that read in negative numbers I think. It prevented me from getting accepted to Ranger school. They like candidates to have 12% body fat simply to aid in staving off things like hypothermia and because for most of the course you live off of the stored body fat because they don’t exactly feed you steak and eggs at every meal.
My problem these days it that while my mind can remember all those things I used to do my body is very quick to remind me that no I can’t.
#30,
“My problem these days it that while my mind can remember all those things I used to do my body is very quick to remind me that no I can’t.”
I just think of Toby Keith every time I train: “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.”
@ 31-fm2176….UH HUH! lol!
To train to this standard is going to require a Guardsman like me to have all my Battle Rattle at home. I do not have Ground Armor any more, just the Air Warrior they give flight crews. Maybe they will require everyone to purchase their own M4 to train with. My guess is that somewhere out there is a company that will provide all these training aids, and soon the individuals that made this decision will be retired and employed there. Have we not learned enough from the ACU the A2CU the Beret and the new ASU? All I know is once we get the new and improved Army square wheels on all our vehicles we will really be able to get some work done!
That’s a point I hadn’t considered re: TA-50; we are forbidden by state policy (and probably numerous regs, but it was recently reiterated to us as a state policy) from keeping our gear at home because of accountability issues.
We did the old run dodge and jump, horizontal ladder, inverted crawl and 2 miles in boots plus push ups and sit ups for awhile into the early 80’s. Around 1983, they mandated running in tennis shoes. That caused a mess of folks to catch shin splints.
We never had that problem with the old APFT. We got smoked and our body adapted to it. Now, the soldiers aren’t use to being smoked. A Mommy, Daddy or Congressman might start an investigation into abuse. TOO SOFT!!!
US Army, Retired
Infantry, Combat Medic and SF Medic
About time! The military is going to make huge cuts coming soon. This is a perfect opportunity for the DOD to cut all the old, fat bums in the guard/reserves. Cant wait!
😀
wont get rid of old people same as it always has been ( Pencil Whipped) for all those in the buddy system
What’s the deal with the comments about lowering the standards for women I have heard this so many times on other sites as well. How many of you can run a marathon? Try doing it twice a year. There was a time when men had to do more sit-ups and they whined and complained that it wasn’t fair so now the standards for sit-ups are the same. I weigh 130lbs(5’5″) on a good day which is 15lbs lighter than the max without being taped and I couldn’t imagine pulling 180lb, but I know some men that weigh almost twice (sloppy) that and they cannot pull it either. I dont think the standards are being lowered for women only; next time you take the APFT look around at all of your male buddies struggling to do a situp around that keg of a belly they have been carrying around for far longer than 9 months.
This is why the National Guard and Reserves should not exist. Half the time you guys come over here to afghanistan and sit on your fat ass anyways. I understand some of you want to serve your country, but damn don’t do it from the sidelines go Active and do something with your life.
Ms Not PLEASED I don’t know if you’ve noticed but look around next time and find the one female who can’t max her situps? I have a six-pack and I do 80 sit ups but I also have to sacrifice time on my run in order to max those other two events. Your max on my push ups is just passing for me. I don’t know if you know this but in order to get promoted to E-5 and E-6 you need points in which come partially from a PT Test. It’s much harder for a MAN to max than it is a female. Hold us all to the same standard because when I’m getting shot at and I’m down I want a female who can pull 180lbs so I know my ass isn’t in danger anymore. If you want to fight with my ensure you can take care of me and get me out of harms way before you jump into my world. I’m not against women fighting side by side with me, but when stuff gets thick I want to know I can count on you. “The sky is blue because GOD loves the INFANTRY”
@40 & 38: What is this silly argument over? Women aren’t allowed in combat to begin with. And even if we were, there has to be a certain test that qualifies her to be in such a unit. If there is a female fighting next to you, then she has proven that she is capable of puling 180lbs of dead weight. I know I couldn’t, which is why I’m not in the infantry. I am of the opinion that many of the events should be weighted according to men and women, such as push ups. I am all for equality, but It is SCIENTIFICALLY proven that women are not as strong as men. End of story. Women have no reason to have to try and crank out 70 push ups when we won’t need to apply it. I know I probably sound like I am completely against women’s rights, but I’m not. I am proud to be a woman, but I am also realistic. If I were in combat, I would not want to fight alongside a child who has proven that they can’t support my weight if I were to get shot and needed to be pulled to safety. However, if that child is qualified to fight alongside me, I would have no objections to it.
I’m in the Guard and to be completely accurate the sled needs to be closer to 300-350 lbs to simulate the weight of half the “chow hall warriors”. Wish they would start kicking fatties out, I really have a hard time taking an NCO seriously when he hasn’t had the discipline to pass a pt test in years.
To the people who have so much to say about Gurad and reserve soldiers, maybe you don’t know or don’t care but, I am in the guard and our sacrifices in terms of lives and blood sweat and tears is the same. There are a lot of so called fatties and you seem to call them some, lack of dicipline others lack of opportunity as Active duty has. You have acess to free gyms, PT time incorporated in your duty day and manditory group PT. You don’t have to work all day and scrape together money for a gym memebership. On drill weekends we have to drive as far as four hrs away and have to pay for our own lodging and dinner and breakfast meals. We put a lot into the military that you don’t know because you don’t have to deal with it. We are all soldiers ad we shouldn’t name call and insult each other.
well mr Army Guy i assure you the time i there that we did not have much time to do too much of that especially when we were getting shot at every day. So next time you send out a general message like that you need to get your facts straight before you get athletes foot of the mouth
So is there a projected date as to when this will be installed?
To all of those responses about male versus female standards; when you find yourself in the suck, gender is the last thing you will be concnered with, getting the mission accomplished with minimal casualties will always be the priority. The army pt test has been an inaccurate test of physical condition since it started. The point in all of this is to assess the overall physical condition of soldiers accurately. For the past 30 years, soldiers have been able to train to pass the APFT without actually being in good shape. I’m glad the Army is reforming their PT program because it is long overdue. As for all the NG and reservists that are not IAW Army ht & wt standards, there has always been and will always be a problem with overweight/out of shape soldiers in the military when leaders decide not to enforce ALL the regulations and show favoritism/apathy/complacency, regardless of serving as a reservist/guardsman/active. When I go to drill weekends, I would gladly spend the time to complete a REAL physical evaluation, regardless of time consumption. The fact that it is more time consuming will require leaders to actually adhere to a stringent schedule. Adapt and overcome, hooah.
Ok…Now I am one of those who rarely if ever comments on these boards. But considering I am service member and an Army NCO myself. This is a point I feel I must touch on…atleast slightly. For starters…A great of us have said over the years that the Army does need an overall of sorts of the old APFT test/standards/events etc. No denying that fact. Sooo being that…the Army finally responded to the complaints err..requests for some change and so far has handed us this. Again to a certain point we did ask for something different…an update if you will. And they provided one…(but as it already seems…may not be a very good one) Although many have asked and even begged for a change in APFT/test/standards over the years…doesn’t mean that the answer should have been something of atleast a partial redundancy, less thought out, lacking in common sense and for the most part…somewhat stupid…as to what they apparently are calling the new APRT and ACRT…They needed a change YES…but a change based on actual “modern day” combat based areas…not a “let’s through as much B.S. at the PT chart on the wall and see what sticks” and make that the new PT test(s). First off…The whole endurance run crap…is absolutely laughable now-a-days…anyone who has been deployed more than once to a combat zone in the last I’ll say…10yrs. can probably agree with me somewhat. IE: with all the gear you have wear and/or carry anymore…Can someone tell me how in the hell are most people to run 2 miles or even 1.5 miles with upwards of 75lbs.+ of equipment your back, ass, body etc. especially in the environments we fight in now. I mean…a great many troops would be dropping out if not possibly picked off by enemy gun fire within the first 1/2 to 1 mile just because there are so weighed down with equipment. Yes you may have to pound the ground and hall tail in some combat situations…but not for a straight 1.5 to 2 miles without taking cover and hopefully firing back. IE: the idea… Read more »
As my adopted daughter is now going through Basic at Ft. Jack I have taken quite an interest in the physical training aspect and I think the changes are for the better. I disagree with Anonymous about push-ups and sit-ups. They do help a great deal in humping gear as they help build up the core strength needed to haul that stuff and stabilize it on your back. Long runs are good for endurance and overall cardio strength although I think that along with sprints running inclines ie hills is a better way to go. Start with no gear and slowly work up the weight. I switched from exclusive distance to running tons of hills and found this helped me a great deal in leg strength and lung capacity.
I do disagree and always have about “Specific standards for men, women and by age ranges”. One standard for all soldiers and if you can’t cut it then be a cook. Bullets and the enemy don’t care what age or sex you are. You are a soldier, period.
The designers know a lot more about the human body than anyone posting on this blog. That being said knowing how the human body is designed to move and operate will allow you to more accurately and proficiently design better and more effective workout programs. Example: Sit-ups in general have always been poor way to test core strength given the location of where muscles like the psoas and various other muscles involved in a hip flexion (which is not done primarily by the abdominal) are attached in the human body. Being that I am a fitness trainer I can see an improvement in the right direction for measuring overall fitness in a more practical and functional way the test does still need one more component and that is flexibility. Without flexibility you run a greater risk of injury and overuse of muscles and joints and not to mention it is one of the 3 components of fitness. Your body will always tell you when something is wrong if you listen to it like feeling knee pain after a run or back pain after sit-up. You can get more benefits in less time by working out smarter. I have been in the army and seen how pt is conducted and I can say that a lot of it is counter-productive in the long term.