New Army Fitness test @2020
- Thread starter Kraut783
- Start date
The events were the inverted (perverted) crawl, the run, dodge and jump (stumble), the bent leg sit-up, the horizontal ladder and the two-mile run...in my dad's day, the grenade throw (replaced by the horizontal ladder) and the low crawl (replaced by the perverted crawl) were events...around 1981, the five-event PT test was replaced by the three-event test as a way to eliminate maintaining/constructing facilities...some of the horizontal ladders were in pretty bad shape and the run, dodge and jump courses were falling apart...
Well, I mean I have to think about the poor junior enlisted soldier that I have take the test on my behalf. It's not all about me, bro. ;)
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- Sep 12, 2012
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Fixed that for you!
ThunderHorse
Verified Military
My opinion remains the same...I have no idea why we're changing over to this and not just adding a CFT in addition.
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I like the meme but the ACFT has nothing to do with Army readiness because it’s not even in place yet. And I’ve felt plenty “ready” after 25 years and seven deployments without once having to throw a medicine back backwards over my head. The ACFT is stupid and unnecessary. it’s the “ACU” of physical fitness: it briefs well but it replaces, at great expense and annoyance of the force, something that was working perfectly well.
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- Sep 12, 2012
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LOL
If the rule was that memes had to 'accurately reflect'....there would be no memes!
All of my memes are 100% factual. All of them. All the time. ;)
And all of my case studies are completed in a timely manner.
R.Caerbannog
Verified Military
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- Nov 4, 2015
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- 2,059
That one leg tuck is still haunting you...
SpongeBob*24
Verified Military
It's the deadlift for me...who in the world needs to lift 180 lbs 3 times......? Thats like 30 12 packs.
You need to be deadlifting at least 210 x3.It's the deadlift for me...who in the world needs to lift 180 lbs 3 times......? Thats like 30 12 packs.
LibraryLady
Verified Military
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- Sep 7, 2006
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- 5,072
You have an amazing interesting reality, sir. Too bad you're the only one to inhabit it.
LL
It's the deadlift for me...who in the world needs to lift 180 lbs 3 times......? Thats like 30 12 packs.
I actually kind of like the dead lift.
Agree. Mimics the movement lifting a stretcher.
I also agree on the foolishness of the backwards medicine ball throw. Two thumbs down
SpongeBob*24
Verified Military
HAHA!!! Lost in the internets. It was a joke Sir!
I found the 14 part playlist linked from the ARMY Site on the ACFT very fun to watch:
How to grade/review testing
The Hand Release Pushup takes some serious getting use to. Agree on earlier posts, its works things in your back that only scientists know exist.
The 3 RM Deadlift is and will always be my KRYPTONITE!!!! #skinnylegs4life
Senators urge Pentagon to Suspend Implementation of ACFT
Posting from my phone, so forgive me if the formatting is weird.
Senators urge Pentagon to suspend implementation of Army’s new fitness test
By
Missy Ryan
Oct. 20, 2020 at 9:00 p.m. MDT
Democratic senators appealed Tuesday for support of a legislative proposal that would suspend implementation of the Army’s new fitness test, arguing that the high-profile initiative to improve physical readiness is based on faulty data and could undermine the goal of creating a diverse force.
In an Oct. 20 letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the rollout of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) “premature” and said the exam could damage some soldiers’ professional prospects.
“We have considerable concerns regarding the negative impact [the test] may already be having on so many careers,” they said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “It is imperative that we pause implementation until all questions and concerns are answered. Soldiers’ careers depend on it and the continued lethality of our force requires it.”
The senators asked the committee leaders to ensure that a measure that would suspend rollout of the test until an independent study can be conducted is included in the final version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The provision appeared in the Senate-passed version of the bill, but not in the House version. Lawmakers are expected to convene to reconcile the two versions of the bill after the Nov. 3 elections.
The test has become a charged issue within the Army as it pits the service’s effort to establish gender-blind standards and improve soldier readiness against fears it could pose an additional challenge to retaining skilled troops and compound obstacles for underrepresented populations within the force. Critics say it could have a disproportionate impact on women, who make up 15 percent of the Army but occupy few leadership positions.
Army data shows that 18 months after small cohorts of soldiers started taking the test on a provisional basis, women continue to fail at dramatically higher rates than men. In the second quarter of 2020, 54 percent of women failed the test, compared with 7 percent of men.
The stark gender gap comes as Pentagon leaders express an urgent desire to rectify the military’s legacy of racial and gender inequity, issues that have long dogged the force but were given new prominence when race-related unrest gripped the nation this summer.
The test consists of six events, including a dead lift, weighted ball throw and, most problematic for women who have taken it to date, a “leg tuck,” in which soldiers lift themselves up from a pullup bar using their arm, core and leg muscles.
The test has different requirements for different career fields, but critics say that even the least demanding standards could remain out of reach for some. They also say that consistently lower scores for female soldiers, who are typically lighter than men and thus must lift weights that are heavier relative to their body weight, could hold women back.
A spokeswoman for the Army said the service would use data collected in coming months to make any necessary adjustments. “The ACFT marks a change in our Army’s fitness culture and will result in a healthier, stronger and more physically resilient force,” she said in a statement.
While Army leaders have said the test won’t affect evaluations until 2022 at the earliest, it is expected to eventually affect enlisted personnel’s promotion potential and, more indirectly, officers’ careers.
Army officials say the test is a product of years of research and is designed to better prepare troops for conditions they would encounter in combat. It places a higher emphasis on muscular strength than the previous Army fitness test, which was adjusted for age and gender and included push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run.
Officials have also said troops can do an alternative to the leg tuck, a two-minute plank, while the test is being finalized.
But some soldiers have privately voiced fears that the test could make it even harder for the Army to secure personnel for high-
demand fields like cyber and say the exercises aren’t relevant for certain troops, including medical professionals and lawyers.
In their letter, Gillibrand and Blumenthal questioned the data used to develop the test, saying not enough women were included in the early testing groups, among other problems.
“The study that the Army has used to make its claims that the [ACFT] is 80 percent predictive used a mere 16 women, all volunteers, with an average age of 23,” the senators wrote, referring to the test’s ambition to match fitness events to success in performing common military tasks.
As envisioned in the Senate bill, the proposed study would examine how the test will affect recruitment and retention in certain military career fields and whether it would negatively impact soldiers in locations where adequate training for the six-event test is not possible.
By
Missy Ryan
Oct. 20, 2020 at 9:00 p.m. MDT
Democratic senators appealed Tuesday for support of a legislative proposal that would suspend implementation of the Army’s new fitness test, arguing that the high-profile initiative to improve physical readiness is based on faulty data and could undermine the goal of creating a diverse force.
In an Oct. 20 letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the rollout of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) “premature” and said the exam could damage some soldiers’ professional prospects.
“We have considerable concerns regarding the negative impact [the test] may already be having on so many careers,” they said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “It is imperative that we pause implementation until all questions and concerns are answered. Soldiers’ careers depend on it and the continued lethality of our force requires it.”
The senators asked the committee leaders to ensure that a measure that would suspend rollout of the test until an independent study can be conducted is included in the final version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The provision appeared in the Senate-passed version of the bill, but not in the House version. Lawmakers are expected to convene to reconcile the two versions of the bill after the Nov. 3 elections.
The test has become a charged issue within the Army as it pits the service’s effort to establish gender-blind standards and improve soldier readiness against fears it could pose an additional challenge to retaining skilled troops and compound obstacles for underrepresented populations within the force. Critics say it could have a disproportionate impact on women, who make up 15 percent of the Army but occupy few leadership positions.
Army data shows that 18 months after small cohorts of soldiers started taking the test on a provisional basis, women continue to fail at dramatically higher rates than men. In the second quarter of 2020, 54 percent of women failed the test, compared with 7 percent of men.
The stark gender gap comes as Pentagon leaders express an urgent desire to rectify the military’s legacy of racial and gender inequity, issues that have long dogged the force but were given new prominence when race-related unrest gripped the nation this summer.
The test consists of six events, including a dead lift, weighted ball throw and, most problematic for women who have taken it to date, a “leg tuck,” in which soldiers lift themselves up from a pullup bar using their arm, core and leg muscles.
The test has different requirements for different career fields, but critics say that even the least demanding standards could remain out of reach for some. They also say that consistently lower scores for female soldiers, who are typically lighter than men and thus must lift weights that are heavier relative to their body weight, could hold women back.
A spokeswoman for the Army said the service would use data collected in coming months to make any necessary adjustments. “The ACFT marks a change in our Army’s fitness culture and will result in a healthier, stronger and more physically resilient force,” she said in a statement.
While Army leaders have said the test won’t affect evaluations until 2022 at the earliest, it is expected to eventually affect enlisted personnel’s promotion potential and, more indirectly, officers’ careers.
Army officials say the test is a product of years of research and is designed to better prepare troops for conditions they would encounter in combat. It places a higher emphasis on muscular strength than the previous Army fitness test, which was adjusted for age and gender and included push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run.
Officials have also said troops can do an alternative to the leg tuck, a two-minute plank, while the test is being finalized.
But some soldiers have privately voiced fears that the test could make it even harder for the Army to secure personnel for high-
demand fields like cyber and say the exercises aren’t relevant for certain troops, including medical professionals and lawyers.
In their letter, Gillibrand and Blumenthal questioned the data used to develop the test, saying not enough women were included in the early testing groups, among other problems.
“The study that the Army has used to make its claims that the [ACFT] is 80 percent predictive used a mere 16 women, all volunteers, with an average age of 23,” the senators wrote, referring to the test’s ambition to match fitness events to success in performing common military tasks.
As envisioned in the Senate bill, the proposed study would examine how the test will affect recruitment and retention in certain military career fields and whether it would negatively impact soldiers in locations where adequate training for the six-event test is not possible.
Posting from my phone, so forgive me if the formatting is weird.
