New Army PT Test

[WillBrink]

Should be interesting to see what the results are testing it on 60 battalions across every unit type:

A new Army PT test is on its way. This is not a drill.

Ding dong, the Army Physical Fitness Test is almost dead.

Yes, a new fitness test is here, but don’t panic: It’ll be a couple more years before you’re taking it for the record.

Army officials unveiled a new gender- and age-neutral PT test on Monday, and it’s set to replace the run/sit-ups/push-ups protocol that soldiers have known and hated for the past four decades.

The new test is expected to be rolled out by late 2020.

The reason for that, the head of the Center for Initial Military Training told Army Times in a Friday phone interview, is an upcoming year-long field study to determine how to grade the new six-event Army Combat Fitness Test, and how it will affect personnel policies like promotions and separations.

That study will begin this October, Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost said, bringing the new regimen to about 60 battalions across every unit type in the Army.

“This is a generational, cultural change in fitness for the United States Army, and will be a cornerstone of individual soldier combat readiness,” Frost said. “That’s how big this is for the Army.”


This is what the test will look like:

Deadlift between 120 and 420 pounds, depending on the individual soldier. You must do three reps in five minutes.
Two-minute rest.
Standing power throw. You’ll be required to toss a 10-pound medicine ball overhead and backward. You’ll have three minutes to make one practice throw and two for a grade. The longest distance is recorded.
Two-minute rest.
Hand-release push-ups. You lower your chest to the floor and lift your hands off the ground between each rep. You’ll be required to do the most reps in three minutes.
Two-minute rest.
Sprint-drag-carry. In four minutes, you will go 25 meters out and 25 meters back five times. Each iteration will include a different activity: sprint, drag a sled, run a lateral shuffle, carry two 40-pound kettle bells, then sprint again.
Two-minute rest.
Leg tuck. You will be required to hang from a pull-up bar and with your body parallel, then pull knees to your elbows for as many reps as possible in two minutes.
Five-minute rest.
Two-mile run on a track or a paved, level road, with a 20-minute maximum.

All told, the ACFT predicts with 80 percent accuracy whether a soldier will be effective in combat, Frost said, compared with 40 percent for the APFT.

Cont:

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-..._medium=social

[grnamin]

I read the requirements and thought... Crossfit.

[Averageman]

Is this going to be a two day long event for an Tank Company?
The three event test usually took 1/4 of the day to complete and this is quite a few more events and stations. I'm guessing this will turn in to a goats screw and no one will be doing it right for the first 18 months.

[WillBrink]

I read the requirements and thought... Crossfit.

It's cross training, a type of training CF pretends it invented. Been around for ever, and there's productive/beneficial versions, and a bunch of unrelated injury producing BS. I'll leave it to others to decide which of those is CF...Does not seem a bad choice of stuff they chose at least and more "functional" than the the run/sit-ups/push-ups protocol. I'd think that run should be replaced with a ruck march of some sort as more job specific challenge.

[Wake27]

Doesn’t sound at all like CrossFit to me. The article I read said there will be one master clock running for 50 minutes I think, everything will get done in that time apparently. I’m surprised at the weight on the deadlift and curious to see how it gets scored.


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[sgtrock82]

Good luck rounding up all that gear theyre calling for, sleds, kettle bells, medicine balls, pull up bars etc. I see lots of waivers and alternate authorized events on the horizon.

The end bit about how effective they predict that the new PT test will be at predicting the combat effectiveness of troops I find humorous... how did they come up with that? Seems like theyre trying to decorate the whole idea with positive but nonsense statistics.

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[Averageman]

Good luck rounding up all that gear theyre calling for, sleds, kettle bells, medicine balls, pull up bars etc. I see lots of waivers and alternate authorized events on the horizon.

The end bit about how effective they predict that the new PT test will be at predicting the combat effectiveness of troops I find humorous... how did they come up with that? Seems like theyre trying to decorate the whole idea with positive but nonsense statistics.

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The only cure for all of that turning in to some real PITA drama would be to have a Brigade level team with all of the equipment and a designated space to conduct the test.
Otherwise, this is going goat screw.

[WillBrink]

Good luck rounding up all that gear theyre calling for, sleds, kettle bells, medicine balls, pull up bars etc. I see lots of waivers and alternate authorized events on the horizon.

The end bit about how effective they predict that the new PT test will be at predicting the combat effectiveness of troops I find humorous... how did they come up with that? Seems like theyre trying to decorate the whole idea with positive but nonsense statistics.

Another article I read recently was the Army was hiring new trainers, nutritionists, etc. I don't recall their mentioning it was in line with this new PT test, but perhaps funding for those specific testing tools are included. If the sleds, balls, etc don't exist (none of which are expensive or difficult to move) then obviously it will be a cluster real fast. But, gotta start some place and this seems a step in the right direction at least. I'm sure some lessons will be learned the hard way via this 60 battalion cross unit test phase.

[Coal Dragger]

This will die in its infancy.

Too complex to implement at the company level to a bunch of young soldiers in anything resembling a timely manner.

Also too equipment intensive.

Also too technique intensive, particularly the deadlift. Not hard to do safely with some coaching of individual form, but we all know that isn’t going to happen. So injuries will pile up as young dudes who’ve never pulled before try to jerk 300+lbs off the deck with a rounded back.

[WillBrink]

This will die in its infancy.

Too complex to implement at the company level to a bunch of young soldiers in anything resembling a timely manner.

Also too equipment intensive.

Also too technique intensive, particularly the deadlift. Not hard to do safely with some coaching of individual form, but we all know that isn’t going to happen. So injuries will pile up as young dudes who’ve never pulled before try to jerk 300+lbs off the deck with a rounded back.

I believe it's a trap bar dead, so much less form intensive at least.