To Whom It May Concern

New PT Standards?

The current Army PT (physical training) test has remained unchanged since 1992, and relatively the same since 1980.

2 minutes of push-ups
2 minutes of sit-ups
2 mile run

While the current test may seem a bit old, it is still a very good indication of overall physical ability. That being said, there are changes now being made to the PT test, and they make little sense. “There are no warrior tasks and battle drills that require us to run for considerable distances,” said Frank Palkoska, director of the U.S. Army Physical Fitness School. “We look at the ability to start, stop, change direction, get up, get down — those tasks that soldiers have to perform in full spectrum operations are exactly what we are training them to do.”

Problem? Well, since when is fitness required to mimic what a soldier is going to do on the battlefield? Physical fitness and combat readiness may be related to one another, but as far as preparatory tasks, they are distinctly different. Let's take a look at the annual "combat readiness test" that they are looking to institute:

A new annual "combat readiness" test includes running 400 meters — about a quarter of a mile — with a rifle, moving through an obstacle course in full combat gear, and crawling and vaulting over obstacles while aiming a rifle. Soldiers also will have to run on a balance beam while carrying 30-pound ammo boxes and do an agility sprint around a course field of cones. Soldiers also will have to drag sleds weighted with sandbags to test their ability to pull a fallen comrade from the battlefield. The combat test might be given before deployments as well as annually, but that has not been decided.

Now, I have no problem with them doing such a test, provided this particular test is not the overall graded test that measures physical fitness. Another issue? Just how the hell are individual units around the United States supposed to standardize the results for a test like this? It appears that this test will not be the standard for PT. The proposed replacement for the actual PT test, something called the "APRT", or Army Physical Readiness Program, consists of:

60-yard shuttle run measures lower body muscular strength and anaerobic power, assessing speed, agility and coordination

One-minute rower (variation of a sit-up) measures total body muscular endurance and assesses total body coordination

Standing long jump measures lower body muscular strength and assesses lower body power

One-minute push-up measures upper body muscular endurance and assesses trunk stability

1.5-mile run measures lower body muscular endurance and aerobic capacity and assesses speed stability

The article went on to state that the military is concerned about "...injuries resulting from distance running over long term periods." Uh, hello??? Did any of these people making these changes actually run organized track at any time in their lives? Distance running does not nearly have the injuries that you get from doing events such as... oh, let's see here, the standing long jump, and sprints, such as, oh yah, a 60 yard shuttle run. Shin splints are not nearly as debilitating as pulled groins, ACL tears, sprained ankles, and other injuries commonly associated with sprinting and leaping.

Then there is the opinion that the current PT test "does not work" because such a high percentage of soldiers are failing under the current standards. BULLSHIT! The problem is that leadership does not stick to training programs that force soldiers to maintain physical fitness, so regardless of what particular idiotic new PT standards you want to institute, as long as you continue to have lethargic leadership when it comes to fitness, soldiers will continue to fail the PT test. Unless of course, as happens in many cases, the leadership simply "pencil-whips" the PT score cards to make it look as though they have a much higher rate of soldiers actually maintaining the standard.

I have no doubt I can learn the new APRT test if they do indeed decide to implement it as the new standard for PT, it just annoys me that the Army believes that fitness MUST duplicate what the unit will do in combat, because there is little to no ability to maintain any sort of standard for such a thing, considering that there are so many different jobs that soldiers do in combat.