At what rank should Soldiers be exempt from organized PT?

PT after a long field day night was always motivating, at least for me.

I had a 3 Star general who ran organized PT when he was II MEF/MARFORLANT Commander and had his staff run all the time. He would walk the passageways and God help you if you were not in PT uniform. I saw him call out Colonels and MGySgts who didn’t think they needed to be there; told them they should probably retire and most did. Ran a perfect 300 PFT until the day he retired. He also took the same seat in 20 and 25 mile hikes.

Well said!

My father is retired Air Force. The Air Force uses common sense and do not force themselves to do foolish things because of "traditions". That is one thing I always admired. My father (Senior Master Sargent) said that if they failed there pt test 2 times they loose a rank. Pt should be all individual in my opinion. We are men and women, not kids

I agree. Blaming the NCO becaue a Soldir cant pass a PT test is hilarious. I cant control effort and determination.

If the soldier reports to the Sgt. then his or her failing should not be a surprise and he absolutely should be able to speak to the SNCO or officer in charge exactly what he has been doing to train, motivate and work the individual soldier to get them able to pass. If he has done nothing, then he’ll yes, he should be held responsible.

Absolutely, sir. I belong to a Company Commander. We all do. We are all on a AAA162. I'm not hip with the Pentagon, but I've been on JTF and Corps level staffs. We all belonged to a Company Commander...even the CG. I don't always fall in with Headquarters Troop though. Sometimes you will find me with a Platoon, sometimes with a section from HHT. Sometimes, I do run on my own though. Every week I run from gym to gym to ensure that none of my Troopers are in there because the gym is off limits from 0630-0800 unless you are on profile PT with an NCO (we have it broken down into red-upper, red-lower, etc). There is no fixed unit I show up to in morning formation though. Once you get past Company level as a leader, your responsibility is to 1) ensure that your units are conducting the proper physical training and 2) stay in shape...no one wants a fat officer commanding them.

and more often than not, the CG isn't working out with a formation...he's running and observing PT throughout the area. Same thing with the Corps and Division CSM. Sometimes they are in a formation, but usually, they try to get out and enforce policy while getting their PT on.

NO rank.... Army of ONE... wait whats the slogan now? well it was Army of one... 

I ran organized PT with our BSSG commander (full Colonel) who started his Marine Corps career in Korea carrying a BAR. He had 40+ years in the Corps at the time.

Sir,
First off, you make a poor assumption thinking that you know me or my experiences. Last I checked FM 7-22 applied to the whole Army, and there is not a different regulation for combat-arms. I am also appalled that you mention my limitations in such a disrespecting manner.

Since you failed to read my entire original post let me restate that a 2 mile walk is not considered a workout whether or not a person is on profile. For those with leg injuries, it either lets them stretch out their injury or causes further damage. Due to short-sighted training plans, this is all injured and ill soldiers are tasked to do. A personal training plan for each soldier based on their individual limitations would provide significantly more benefits to physical fitness without causing further injury.

The PT experience you described I have no problems with IF IT WORKS! I have no problem with organized PT in itself; however PRT as described in FM 7-22 is not effective in maintaining a combat ready force. If you read the FM, you'll notice the longest recommended duration for running is 30 minutes (table 10-2). It even says that the running duration should be determined by time, not distance. So unless your whole company is conducting 4-mile runs in 30 minutes or less, technically your example would not be in accordance with FM 7-22.

If you have ever worked competitively in fitness, you'll know that what works for one individual does not work for everyone. Proper diet, technique, and exercising without overtraining are all required to maintain high levels of physical fitness. The current catch-all version of organized PT is not effective for the whole military force in maintaining physical fitness levels.

You've really hit the nail on the head SGT Kristin Wiley, particularly in your last paragraph. I've never gained much from long runs, but 3 mile fartlek runs once a week and sprints twice a week have shaved minutes off of my run time.

I usually wound up with less sleep (where good sleep did not exist when deployed and after), shin splints, a sore hip (and old injury from command PT when I was a boot E-3) and sore knees (already bad from years of DoD service) from most command PT. Or I was bored. Funny thing was that we usually ran organized by BN, so I never got to meet any of the other soldiers from the other BNs, BDEs,et al, and I really didn't need to bond with my BN who I already worked with every day anyway. And I shared an open bay living space with everyone below E-7 in my BN anyway, so we were pretty sick of each other for the most part before long. On my last deployment, my BN was scattered across theatre(s) and worked on a different base and lived in different (and much worse) barracks on the far side of base from our BDE on up anyway, so we never really saw them....

SGT Kristin Wiley - I agree with the last paragraph. I do work competitively in group fitness and what's good for this person may not necessarily be good for their neighbor...which is why I offer different versions of whatever workout I'm leading. I also understand the factors that most people don't get, such as mental strength & flexibility, diet, physical stamina and/or limitations, and the magic variable.