84% of Women Failing Army Combat Fitness Test

[Chemsoldier]

I recently did the ACFT informally (used all the standards in the material published) with mostly standard equipment except i didnt have a sled, i used an 80 pound duffle bag with drag handles.

It is no joke. There will need to be a culture change. Observations
1. While the individual event minimum standards are not hard at all, stringing the events together in the time alotted makes the whole test tougher than it looks.
2. Leadership will need to learn to read ACFT results. Simply passing isnt good enough, but expecting people to max it just isnt in the cards.
3. A person can do well on the APFT and not be remotely physically ready for combat. A person training halfway seriously for the ACFT is probably much better set up for the physical demands of combat than someone just crushing APFT focused PT. Yeah, i know, you are not supposed to train for the test...people are going to do it to some degree...and training for this test is going to get you way closer to combat fitness than training for the APFT.

At the moment i am seeing this as an improvement, albeit one that is pretty complicated to conduct.

[pooty]

https://www.army.mil/acft/

Odd choice of words in the description of the STANDING POWER THROW (SPT)

Attachment 43635

How did they come up with some of these minimum passing scores ?

21 minute two mile 'run'
10 pushups (yes ten)
1 leg tuck

[rcbusmc24]

I cannot speak to the APFT or whatnot, I don't run it as I'm a Jar-head, we do the PFT and CFT semiannually. However, as is expressed in the physical fitness order that we follow, the physical evaluations conducted should not be specifically trained for, they should be used by the commander as a gauge of his units overall physical condition and used to guide the development and implementation of his physical fitness training plan..... That briefs real good on the power point up at HQMC, however the scores that each Marine achieves are also calculated into promotion scores for the junior Marines and reported on FitReps for Sergeants and above, thus you can be damn sure dudes are training for the tests.... I have to imagine the Army does the same thing.

While I have no trouble getting a reasonably high first class score on the PFT and typically Max the CFT, I have long felt that the tests should be MOS based and should be a Pass / Fail event with no regards given to Age, Gender or whatnot as the job is what it is and you can either accomplish the task or you cannot. The issue at hand does not care about your age or gender....The pack or gear weighs what it weighs, the injured guy has to be moved off the X, the ammo has to be loaded on the truck, the 70 pound breaker bar for the Amtrack has to be moved, the MK19 has to be mounted... etc.... thus identify what the standard should be for a given event and make everyone perform to that standard.... on demand... not after a bunch of prep work, and now you be in compliance with what the order actually directs for the USMC.

Unfortunately, in order to do that we would have to rework our promotion system, which really needs a overhaul anyways....

As for the actual events tested, I personally like the idea of the events from our CFT but run the events with an actual fighting load, add in pull ups from the PFT but make it a pass/ fail number per MOS and put in a timed 12 mile Ruck with a 45 lbs pack. But I'm up for ideas.... it just needs to require little equipment other that what the Marine already is issued, and be able to be tested in larger groups, I also favor greatly the idea of it being done in utilities and boots with gear rather than in PT shorts and running shoes....

To address the issues with Females failing the test, I've got 3 females in my infantry rifle company, all passed all of the schools (ITB) and tests (MSPS 1 & 2, Academic, 20 K timed hike under load) to become a 0311 rifleman or 0341 mortarman. One of them maxed this years tests and did 22 pullups on during the PFT, 1 got a 1st class score on both PFT and CFT and one failed the PFT and passed the CFT with a 1st class, pull ups got her on the PFT, she will have to pass next years PFT or will be administratively processed out... We have to constantly work those in order to keep the numbers up and unless they(especially the women) are self driven the numbers performed correctly will drop quickly. I imagine it is the same for personnel required to perform the leg tuck exercise as well.

[ranger]

Good article https://mwi.usma.edu/critics-miss-ar...t-ready-force/

[txdpd]

FWIW Didn’t Mark Rippetoe - Starting Strength say if he designed a military fitness test that everyone, male or female, would need to deadlift twice their bodyweight... that would be interesting to see those numbers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Throwing something backwards over your head is skill based?

The leg tuck is awesome because it gets at two areas - core as well as upper body pulling. There is a huge portion of the Army that can't even do a single pull-up.

Rip has this uncanny ability to make the powerlifts the solution to everything, even though he might be the only who believes what he’s peddling. There’s one of the tough things about physical performance, are we giving someone credibility because they are good at something loosely related or because they are qualified to design a test. I’m not sure who ever was heading up the Army program is really a genius, or creds are little more than being good at crossfit and reading T-Nation.

This could be an idiot with little understanding of logistics, or someone that understands growing pains, and at the end of the day units will be deployed with a decent mini gym, instead of a hodgepodge of improvised equipment, and a test they can train for while maintaining readiness.

Throwing is a great way to measure and train power. Power in the sense of force being applied quickly, as opposed to strength which is applying force. Outside of general athleticism there’s not a lot of need for power in the Army. Broad jumping would do the same thing as throwing, but with higher injury potential. They could carry jerry cans instead of kettlebells, but then they wouldn’t have a pair of kettlebells. A humvee tire could replace the sled for the test, but tires are hard to scale down for training. I think this could be really clever or really dumb.

[John Hearne]

Sorry for the necropost but this news story seemed relevant. It's interested to see the test criticized as "too accurate" in assessing fitness for duty.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...6b52f295&ei=13

[UNK]

My Daughter just got the highest Female PT score in her reserve unit. I said so you’re equal to a ten year old boy for some reason she didnt find that amusing.

[MGW]

From the FY24 NDAA Executive Summary

https://www.armed-services.senate.go...ve_summary.pdf

My screenshot wasn’t legible.

From page 17:

“Restores the Army's Physical Fitness Test (APFT) as the test of record and requires a 24- month pilot program, briefing to Congress, and a one year waiting period before a new standard can be implemented.”

I have no idea what this means for the short term.

[runcible]

My Daughter just got the highest Female PT score in her reserve unit. I said so you’re equal to a ten year old boy for some reason she didnt find that amusing.

Dang... not a big fan of hers, eh?

[Wake27]

My Daughter just got the highest Female PT score in her reserve unit. I said so you’re equal to a ten year old boy for some reason she didnt find that amusing.

The test is sadly easy to pass but quickly becomes hard to do very well on. I did well on most of the events a few weeks ago but the plank killed my score. There are so many events that almost everyone is going to have at least one true weakness, if not more. Depending on her raw scores across all of the events, it may be more impressive than it sounds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro