Posted on 07/10/2018 5:02:39 PM PDT by DFG
If I recall rightly, the young man in the picture busted his tail to lose significant weight (vaguely recall 60 or 70 pounds, perhaps more) so that he could enlist in the Army. It was his dream. He achieved it, again, if I remember correctly. Good for him.
So yes, there should be two standards.
It was before. This kids busted his tail to lose considerable weight so he could meet the Army’s entrance requirements. He succeeded.
“Oh, let’s just scrap it all and see whether they can do PlayStation for 20 minutes.”
This doesn’t look like sitting in be armchair ...
Strength deadlift: “With a proposed weight range of 120 to 420 pounds … ACFT will require Soldiers to perform a three-repetition maximum deadlift … and the weights will be increased.”
They’re substituting a two minute breast milk squeeze.
The old PT test really let me off the hook. I always did fairly well on the pushups and situps. I never could run well, but I just managed to stagger across the finish line with maybe 30 seconds to spare.
The five-event 1970s PT test was a nightmare, involving as it did the horizontal ladder, an exercise suited mainly to little wiry guys. I don’t think I ever passed it, which meant my 6-1, 200 pound butt was always on the carpet.
The three-event test I could work with. But I can tell you that when I collected my honorable discharge after eight years, active and reserve, I promised myself I would never run again.
I have kept this promise. Armed forces personnel need to maintain a reasonable-to-high level of fitness, depending on one’s specialty. I don’t expect Army journalists (my specialty) to be as fit as airborne rangers.
Just like IQ varies, inherent athletic ability does as well. Somehow our media gives the impression that everyone has an athlete waiting to get out.
I ask in reply: Does this mean everyone also has a scholar waiting to get out?
I suggest the answer to both questions is “no.” I did all right with any mental task I was assigned but no power on earth was going to make me more than a mediocre athlete.
The comment stands
When did the Army cut the Run to just 2 miles?
See, if the women can’t do pushup and sit-ups, they just cancel them.
“They’re substituting a two minute breast milk squeeze.”
Hey, Laz! I found yer calling! It’s the military!
I’m ok with this change. They’ve got some serious deadlifts and release pushups. Sounds good.
Too bad. There were some good jokes floating around in my mind if they had wussed up the entrance. Like ‘how fast can you make pajamaboy cocoa with no microwave” or “applying mascara flawlessly” or even “fashioning a tampon out of materials found in a desert.”
Oh. I didn’t check out the hand release push up. The chest is resting on the ground? Sissies! I thought they made it harder, like the kind where you release your hands from the ground and clap!
20minutes!?
How about 3 minutes?
“...we don’t want them to feel bad.”
Oh, they still get to do pushups. just tougher ones according to the article.
Along with the other 4 events - plus a two-mile run:
Strength deadlift: Set of 3 reps starting at 120#, weights increase to muscle failure.
Standing power throw: 10# ball backwards overhead, for distance.
Hand-release pushups: Weird description, sounds like a focus on core and balance.
Sprint/drag/carry: Sprints, drag 90# sled, carry a pair of 40# kettle bells (for time?). Would like to see the distance.
Leg tuck: Alternate leg lifts to elbows, while standing.
The pre-1983 Army had a similar function-oriented 5-event test: situp, inverted (crab) crawl, run/dodge/jump, horizontal ladder, 2-mile run (I was there). Scrapped it due to time & equipment requirements (and the females couldn’t hack it). A lot of the horizontal ladders got pretty rickety over the years.
This way I can better identify with our soldiers. I couldn’t do a pushup, even if my life depended on it. No point in shaming those who haven’t developed their core.
I’d also let them all sleep till noon if possible.
To me, it’s not the test itself, or how “soft” or “crossfit” it is. The devil lies in the details.
Push-ups, sit-ups, and a run can be accomplished without huge hassles at any unit, whether active duty, reserve, or National Guard.
This one? Looks like a bunch of gear is gonna have to get purchased. Outside of major posts, this will become a problem. Will DoD build courses all over the country to keep reservists and National Guard troops current? JMO, but the people who put this together appear to have little knowledge of what a “Total Force” concept means. Unless you start fragmenting standards all over the place — active duty infantry, artillery, cooks, then reserve and NG infantry, artillery, cooks, etc.... and so on. I see a logistical nightmare coming with the new test.
As for pencil-whipping PT tests of any kind... that stuff will go on no matter which test is used.
bkmk
You can bet the elite units of many of the branches will not.........
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