While planning solely for the lowest common denominator is a sure fire way to mediocrity (at best), failing to take the reality that half a given population is of below average intelligence into account is just as unwise.Īll that said, I really want to see the new test work. It can be done almost anywhere you have space to run, and it is simple enough even the least bright NCOs and officers on the planet can do it. The benefit behind the APFT, and other similar “legacy” assessments is their ease of administration. Figuring out the difference between an out of shape dirt bag, an out of shape troop who can/should be retained/rehabilitated, and an otherwise fit soldier who had a bad day takes leadership skills and experience that can’t be written into an FM or managed from on high. It should be noted that everyone who fails these (especially those who don’t do so regularly) does not automatically fall into the bad troop category (unless they are in an MOS where the unit’s own standards are leaps and bounds beyond big Army), but there are far fewer special cases than one would expect reading what folks who fail these kind of tests online write about. It also is hard to be a total mess from a body comp perspective It does shine a light on folks who just don’t care enough to pass the thing though, and that can be useful to leaders wanting to be rid of bad troops. It is probably a really bad indicator of fitness for armed conflict. If you are just using your PT test as a way to make it easy to kick people out, the APFT is not a bad tool.

I’m trying hard to rein in my natural inclination towards sarcasm, but this is the best idea the army has had since it chose the Universal Camouflage Pattern. Regardless of how effect this test is as a measurement of overall fitness or combat crossfit readiness or what the fuck ever, this is simply not practical. A whole day devoted to administering this test. No matter how you slice it, it will take a solid day to test one company. Not counting the amount of time and support manpower it’ll take to set up the 16 stations, disregarding the required half a football field of space to run each lane, not counting the amount of time it’ll take to tear down the lanes after the testing is done, just look at the amount of time it takes to test one soldier:ĥ1-54 minutes per soldier, best case with the minimum required rest between stations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.īoth comments and pings are currently closed.ĥ1 Responses to “Everything The Army Wants You Know About The New Army Combat Fitness Test”įorget, for a minute, about sourcing the equipment needed for this test. On Wednesday, October 17th, 2018 at 13:00 and is filed under Training. It tells you everything the Army wants you to know about the ACFT. Here’s a Center for Army Lessons Learned document discussing the ACFT. This undermines its use as a promotion tool.Īdoption of the ACFT will require a significant cultural shift. While the ACFT will use a common scale with a minimum, Soldiers in different MOSs and assignments will be required to attain different scores. What’s more, the Physical Fitness score is tied to promotion with a common scoring system for all.

In short, the APFT can be conducted almost anywhere with little preparation or equipment. The test prior to that required a special facility with horizontal bars and a run, dodge, and jump course.

On the down side, the ACFT takes a lot of standardized equipment and time to conduct.Īlthough it has been referred to a variety of names over the past four decades, the three event test was adopted because all that was needed was a stop watch, measured two-mile course and a flat surface to conduct pushups and sit-ups. On the plus side, the ACFT is designed to more accurately measure Combat Fitness than the current three event Army Physical Fitness Test. Until then, 60 BN-sized units will evaluate the six event test which requires specialized equipment to complete. Everyone is talking about the new Army Combat Fitness Test set to become the standard of fitness measurement beginning in Fiscal Year 2021.

88m acft standards