Posted on May 28, 2015
Equality? AF PFT standards are extremely different between male and female.
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Before I get hate replies I'm only concerned with the running and sit-up portion of the test. It's a scientific fact that generally men will be bigger and will generally have a bigger waist. Let's not forget that most men will generally have more chest muscles so push-ups aren't really a concern either for equality but the run and sit-up portion of the AF PFT should be the same. Women are required to do a significant amount of sit-ups less than their male counterparts and can run several minutes slower than their male counterparts. Is this fair? Is this equal? I say no, can we change the current inequalities?
Posted in these groups: 
Physical Training
Physical Training
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 16
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My vote is remove waist measurement, and find "the standard" for the run (walk)/situp/pushup for a military member (regardless of gender) and make that the standard.
Another way of putting it is this.
Same Job = Same Qualifications/Standards.
Another way of putting it is this.
Same Job = Same Qualifications/Standards.
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Since the discussion of opening up direct combat roles to women, the issue is really relative physical fitness standards vs. the fitness standards needed for the job. Currently, PFT standards are based on relative standards. That is, this acknowledges that men and women have different physiological make-up and thus have different standards to make it relatively equal. Now if they are TRULY relatively equal is the crux of your question (not going into one standard for an MOS, as that is a whole different discussion). The hard part is really evaluating if the standards are relatively equal as physiologic difference even within sexes vary widely. IMHO, I think female standards for PUs and the run are a bit more generous than they need to be. Unless we go to MOS driven standards that are gender neutral, I think relative standards are fine, but they need to be tightened up.
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SGT (Join to see)
Sir, I agree with most of what you wrote. However, I disagree that the female standards for pushups are too generous. I've been working on improving my pushups for the last three years, and I still only score between 70-80%. If a male works as hard and consistently to improve his pushups as I have been, he would be scoring 100% by now.
As for the run, it's a fact that males run quite a bit faster than females. If you compare the fittest, fastest professional male runner to the fittest, fastest professional female runner, you'll see a significant difference in performance. Except in cases where you're comparing an unfit male to a highly fit female, males will always run much faster.
As for the run, it's a fact that males run quite a bit faster than females. If you compare the fittest, fastest professional male runner to the fittest, fastest professional female runner, you'll see a significant difference in performance. Except in cases where you're comparing an unfit male to a highly fit female, males will always run much faster.
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LTC Paul Labrador
SGT (Join to see), yes fit males are always going to physically outperform fit females, but the issue is by how much. But when a female in the 18-21 standard only has to do 19 PU and 18:54 to pass, then yes, that is a bit generous. Compare that to a male from the same age group: 42 and 15:45. Most in shape females I know blow those out of the water.
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http://www.afpc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-110804-054.pdf
Thank you for you replies and inputs.
I wanted to display the disparity by narrowing down the PFT to only the run portion.
The fastest male 1 mile recorded is 3:43.13, the fastest female 1 mile recorded is 4:12.56. We can round that to a thirty second difference. Using the link above you can see the difference regarding run times If we round up a few seconds there is a 3 min difference in run times and that gap get bigger as you get older. So an 18yr old female and a 50yr old male have to finish the run around the same times.
Thank you for you replies and inputs.
I wanted to display the disparity by narrowing down the PFT to only the run portion.
The fastest male 1 mile recorded is 3:43.13, the fastest female 1 mile recorded is 4:12.56. We can round that to a thirty second difference. Using the link above you can see the difference regarding run times If we round up a few seconds there is a 3 min difference in run times and that gap get bigger as you get older. So an 18yr old female and a 50yr old male have to finish the run around the same times.
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MSgt Brian Welch
Could it be said that the fastest times recorded for one/the other/or both are outlyers and the real data to work from is more toward the median 1-mile times for both sexes? Not that your question doesn't have merit, and the measurement scale in need of adjustment, but maybe the disparity isn't as great as it appears?
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TSgt Joshua Copeland
MSgt Brian Welch, is on point. We would have to look at median data not that of the world class athletes.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
MSgt Brian Welch TSgt Joshua Copeland The extreme outliers are used to highlight the difference (30sec~). The median difference is actually "about" 1 min /mile through Marathon distance.
What we run into is that "the worlds best can't" therefore the it's impossible for the "the world's average" to, type of situation. Image two bell curves with very similar shapes that are off set just slighly at one side (30 seconds), and more prominently at the other (depending on distance). In the center, it equates to about 1min/mile.
What we run into is that "the worlds best can't" therefore the it's impossible for the "the world's average" to, type of situation. Image two bell curves with very similar shapes that are off set just slighly at one side (30 seconds), and more prominently at the other (depending on distance). In the center, it equates to about 1min/mile.
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