Army Chief: Pass New Combat Fitness Test or 'Hit the Road'
The Army is finally getting tough on physical fitness. The new test is supposed to start in 2020 and will be (for now) age and gender neutral. There is a link to the Field Testing Manual in the article- pdf alert. Near the end you can see a sample score card if you want to see it.
It will include: deadlift, standing power throw, hand release push-ups, sprint drag, carry; leg tuck; 2 mile run. In that order. So you are going to be pretty smoked by the time you get to the two mile run. They give you a bit more time than under the current test to allocate for that.
I have a problem with the sprint drag, carry, well the drag part. It simulates dragging an injured Soldier out of harms way while under fire. But they are using only 90 pounds. How is that realistic? We don't have any Soldiers who weight only 90 lbs. 185 seems to be average for active duty combat arms. Add body armor to that.
Prediction: if the Army keeps this gender and age neutral it will cull the Army of female Soldiers, many support types to include doctors, JAGs, and chaplains and reservists. But if they get enough people to consistently pass to field the force, the Army will be much more bad-ass than it is now.
The Army's July 9 announcement that the new six-event ACFT will become the mandatory test of record in 2020 was a jarring wake-up call for more than a million soldiers accustomed to the comfortable norm of the four-decade-old APFT's pushups, sit-ups and two-mile run. Over the next two years, the Army has pledged to refine the new fitness standard; prepare active-duty, National Guard and Reserve units to administer the new test; and figure out what to do with soldiers who fail to meet the new standard.
"The purpose of ACFT, first and foremost, is to make sure our soldiers are ready for the rigors of combat," Army Secretary Mark Esper told Military.com. "We do have to sort through all the policies that come with a physical fitness test. I will tell you though ... at the end of the day, if you can't pass the Army Combat Fitness Test, then there is probably not a spot for you in the Army."
One Standard, No Exceptions