What do you think of the new Army APFT?

[J-Dub]

I am aware, i was just wondering what "intestinal fortitude and heart" had to do with physical fitness. I would probably put those "terms" with mental toughness....

[Littlelebowski]

I am aware, i was just wondering what "intestinal fortitude and heart" had to do with physical fitness. I would probably put those "terms" with mental toughness....

In the end, it's a test of the individual.

[J-Dub]

Also the 1.5mile is basically just a VO2max test...which is an easy way to relate numbers wise how fit someone is, when comparing people.



btw the dude is in my dvd player atm...

[variablebinary]

Personally I think the APFT should be an FTX where you are required to do lots of soldier field tasks in full battle rattle. Ruck, carry other soldiers that are bigger than you and their gear, sprints, climbing hills.

This is far more important to me and really says something about soldier effectiveness.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Personally I think the APFT should be an FTX where you are required to do lots of soldier field tasks in full battle rattle. Ruck, carry other soldiers that are bigger than you and their gear, sprints, climbing hills.

This is far more important to me and really says something about soldier effectiveness.

Sort of like an EIB you have to qual for every year

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

That and pullups. Of course, I'm also a fan of swim quals (something Big Army does not know anything about) being done at the same interval at PFTs in the Corps.

I did the swim qual for a PT test a few years in a row due to some foot injuryes. Shit it was hard I have never been that sore in the lats sence

[Cagemonkey]

3 miles for time is no joke and is indeed a test of physical fitness, J-Dub.

3 miles for time is definitely no joke, my best time was 20:40 out of boot. On the other hand I don't know if its a fair test of ones conditioning and endurance. I saw quite a few 300 PFT types drop out of humps. I also saw some pretty buff guys not do 20 pull ups while stickman had no problem. I just don't know if doing pull ups, crunches and a run in shorts and running sneakers is a real accurate judge of ones practical fitness. A combination of a combat conditioning course and a run with rifle and specific gear would be more accurate IMHO.

[cbyrd556]

Personally I think the APFT should be an FTX where you are required to do lots of soldier field tasks in full battle rattle. Ruck, carry other soldiers that are bigger than you and their gear, sprints, climbing hills.

This is far more important to me and really says something about soldier effectiveness.

I know I'm just a ate up civilian, but do you feel this is a step in the right direction at least? My only experience with the AFPFT was back in 98 and 99 when I was in Army ROTC in college and then went to the ROTC Basic at Ft. Knox. I wish we would have had this new test as the old test seemed kind of like going through the motions, and didn't present any relevance to an operational environment. I may be wrong in that statement as I have never been deployed. So forgive my ignorance and correct me if I'm wrong. At the time I took the AFPFT, those of us who were playing Football had no problem with it, well my run time could have used some improvement, but hey I played Center so cut me some slack. I feel this new test would have been way more of a challenge.

[variablebinary]

I know I'm just a ate up civilian, but do you feel this is a step in the right direction at least? My only experience with the AFPFT was back in 98 and 99 when I was in Army ROTC in college and then went to the ROTC Basic at Ft. Knox. I wish we would have had this new test as the old test seemed kind of like going through the motions, and didn't present any relevance to an operational environment. I may be wrong in that statement as I have never been deployed. So forgive my ignorance and correct me if I'm wrong. At the time I took the AFPFT, those of us who were playing Football had no problem with it, well my run time could have used some improvement, but hey I played Center so cut me some slack. I feel this new test would have been way more of a challenge.

Since you did ROTC, you'll understand why I am have issues with the current APFT.

You get some scrawny ass 19 year old female that gets a 300 APFT score. Oooh, Ahhh, she is so awesome. Throw a ruck on her ass, give her a weapon and she dies after a 3k road march. Then you have a 200lbs Iowa farm boy that carries 5 rucks, and finishes the full road march without breaking a sweat, but he only gets a 180 on his PT test.

In the field, who do you want with you? Did the PT test really prove who the more valuable soldier is? Who should get preference on the OML?

[RogerinTPA]

Since you did ROTC, you'll understand why I am have issues with the current APFT.

You get some scrawny ass 19 year old female that gets a 300 APFT score. Oooh, Ahhh, she is so awesome. Throw a ruck on her ass, give her a weapon and she dies after a 3k road march. Then you have a 200lbs Iowa farm boy that carries 5 rucks, and finishes the full road march without breaking a sweat, but he only gets a 180 on his PT test.

In the field, who do you want with you? Did the PT test really prove who the more valuable soldier is? Who should get preference on the OML?

Agreed. IMHO, the current APFT does nothing to prove combat fitness. It was just a convenient way to measure performance for commanders evaluations and promotion boards. A 12 mile timed ruck march, immediately followed by a live fire assault course, using fire and maneuver, would be a better measurement of combat fitness. A rope climb and a combat swim, would round out the test.