Does every MOS/Rate need the same level of fitness? What about an MOS/Rate specific PT test or events?

As a 1SG I want to be tested on my coffee cup holding endurance. I am second to none!

I don't like this at all. This logic is a slippery slope and I don't agree with its implications for the broader force. Then why not also just lower marksmanship requirements for certain support MOS's that are least likely to need to use their weapon? For example, people who go 12 months on a deployment without ever leaving the FOB one time? Why should they have as high a threshold to meet for their MOS with their weapon, when their weapon skills almost don't matter?

I just don't like the idea of compromising standards as fundamental as physical fitness.

I love the concept of MOS + unit based PT standards and have lobbied big Army about it for years, even before I joined the military. I was in Bosnia as a civilian when they lost an Arabic crypto linguist because he couldn't pass the run (he made height/weight with no tape). Do not picture an interpreter who rides on convoys. He sits at a desk all day, but more relevant, his AIT plus language school was the better part of two years and he was going to be put out short the obligation he incurred for his schooling. I wrote as a taxpayer that I paid for this guy to have a skill set that did not include running, and now my money was being wasted. The Army didn't care and followed regs. That was 2004/5 when we needed this guy.

I have written many times here about the tired argument that at any moment anyone could end up in combat. I beg you to look at the stats. For every non-combat arms person who found themselves in combat, there were 1,000 who did not (rounding) to include many who enter and leave the military never even deploying. If you back out the number who did not belong to combat arms based units, now you are entirely grasping at straws.

I envision several levels of PT requirements:
-Special Forces
-Ranger/Special Purpose Units
-Combat Arms
-Non-Combat Arms, but assigned to Combat Arms Unit
-Non-Combat Arms
(and maybe even a sixth category for JAG, dental, psychologists, etc)

Soldiers should be able to take higher level standards and be rewarded for such (like we do with the German Armed Forces Badge). The lowest bracket should not be vastly lower than the next higher bracket because you do not want to set people up where they cannot have career mobility because they have not been held to a high enough fitness standard. I also think that at the "Combat Arms" level, events could be added to address specific needs of an MOS.

In any event, we should be focused on what our shortcomings have been over the last decade. In every analysis I have read about OEF/OIF, I have never once heard that the problem involved lack of Soldier physical fitness. I would love to see this matter put to bed so we can focus on developing the kind of professional force we will need to face the kinds of threats we are likely to see in the future (high tech, social media savvy, cyber-based enemies). More push-ups, adding pull-ups, crossfit, will NOT get us there, but will surely deter the kinds of Soldiers we need from even joining our force.

How is this even a question? The Army developed a base line, but it's up to leaders to further develop the unit PT program so their Soldiers can perform their mission.

Adjutant General (42 series) PT Test:

Endurance event - Type 3,000 words as fast as you can without stopping
Strength - Unload an LMTV full of office equipment to a building 500m away because the driver was considerate enough to park next to the building
Agility - Adjutant Bugle requiring speed walk without running from back of a BDE size element to the front.

But, but, but everyone is just like infantry right?

I don't like it. I think it breaks down cohesion across the Army and loses the spirit of that old slogan "Army of One". Maybe y'all should do what the Marine Corps did and add a Combat Fitness Test for infantry MOS's.

I believe that there should be a simple standard for everyone - across the board to meet that essentially tells the Army "I am fit and meet or exceed the basic standard required of me".

I also believe that there is a need for MOS specific standards. This is in no way meant to demean, belittle, or denigrate someones MOS for we all contribute to the overall mission (how PC was that?)

I would expect that a combat arms Soldier to be more physically challenged in their MOS versus a combat support Soldier. If your MOS requires that you be able to ruck 10 miles with a 45 pound load then I expect that you be physically capable of doing that and that you are in better shape than most others.

The Army should have a standard like it does. Specific MOSs or organizations should then be able to make their standards higher based on the difficulty or requirements of the job.

The 75th Ranger Regiment does this and it works well to keep all Rangers at a minimal fitness level.

CPT (Join to see), I think it's a bad idea to change the APFT; however, I am for MOS specific PT instead of PRT. Take for example my MOS, 15T (Blackhawk Helicopter Mechanic). My duties range from routine maintenance to heavy phase maintenance, to crewchief and doorgunner. MOS specific PT could be centered around those duties.
Examples:
50 lbs tool box workout
climbing up and down the helicopter (stair/bleacher running)
50 meter dash (simulates emergency egress from acft on fire)
different buddy carries (simulates carrying another crewmember from a burning acft)
Timed E&E with M240H and a box of ammo in the woods and must travel approx 100 yards and set up position.

The list is endless.