At what rank should Soldiers be exempt from organized PT?

NONE. Should never be an exemption unless medically related

When they ETS or retire.

I do not believe most people would workout properly left alone, HOWEVER organized PT is a sham and only hurts the individual soldiers, Take me for example when I was AD I could jog 20-30 miles no problem I was also 6ft2in and around 225lbs I was constantly struggling with that 1% even though i went to the gym everyday and ate as healthy as i possibly could with the exception of late lunches being a burger or whatever when we were under crunch (91B) which in the end it was all the random sprinting that ended up screwing up my back and knees so speed isnt everything especially in the old PT test

Now having said that Squad PT with an identified individual who understands body dynamics regardless of rank/position to lead the 4-5 people in individually focused activities ie;

-Bad at pushups? have the soldier do sets of 15-20 incline pushups and work on stretching shoulders as well as building the muscles in their Triceps/Biceps/shoulders/core muscles (the core muscles will make it easier over time to maintain the pushup position by building that core strength and stamina)

-Bad at running? sprints on the tread mill followed by stretching and working out your hip mobility to help with speed as well as train your posture when running as well as get a Breathing trainer sounds stupid but it helps build your lung strength pretty well

-Bad at Sit-ups? Everyone is bad at them but remember working out your core and lower back will help you build the stamina you need to keep crunching so go for shorter sets over longer periods of time use the bench to anchor your feet and do them on their its easier but it builds the same muscles youll use when someones anchoring you with their weight (train like you fight type of scenario)

with the new stuff idk as a mechanic that stuff is pretty normal day to day activity but would still benefit from having everyone broken down into same level groups similar to the cram school method to let those that are ahead keep ahead and those that are behind can motivate each other to get better

As a solider dont give into the "ill never be as good as so and so" dont worry about being the fitness master, simply shoot for being better than yesterday because remember should you deploy what you put into that self discipline and training makes or breaks your survival, if nothing else do the climbing drills pretty good full body work out would just suck to do every single day without stopping.

Never! Train as you fight! We fight as a team.

I'd be careful about exempting anyone from organized PT even if that meant to let them just exercise on their own. I think we can be reasonable without being fools. I'd let company athletic teams practice during PT but in order to be on one of those teams, the soldier had to pass the APFT. I had guys who planned to game the system by failing a series of PT tests; I found that there was a correlation between wanting to play basketball.

Leave it to the Army to ask this question.

The answer is none. Noone is above organized PT. Its especially important for senior leadership to be there so they can be seen as leading from the front, rather than the rear.

I don't know of any rank that would exempt them. The only thing I know of that exempted me from organized PT was having a PT of Excellence badge. That meant that my PT score was 300 +. Even though I had that badge I still chose to do PT with my unit.

None. Everyone from the newest recruit to the most senior officer should be required to qualify for physical readiness.

At the rank of civilian or retiree, whichever comes first. If you’re not physically fit to do what you’re supposed to do then you shouldn’t be in the military.

When they retire.