Posted on Apr 29, 2017
How does your Commander's performance on their PT test influence your opinion of them?
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Do you think more or less of a commander if they get the maximum score possible on their APFT (or whatever test your respective service takes)? During my enlisted days I don't think I ever had a commander who was a PT stud. If I had a commander who couldn't pass a PT test I might honestly think less of them, but I don't know if they really need to blow it out of the water. Thoughts?
APFT
Officer
Commanders
Command
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 352
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Honestly never cared sir as long as they passed.
I judge my commanders based on their command presence and planning ability
I judge my commanders based on their command presence and planning ability
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SFC Leroy Yarbrough
SFC Leroy Yarbrough retired
No I didn’t care usually every commander I served with didn’t max but did pass. Yes they should pass and want everyone under their command to max, this is a very important part of leadership.
No I didn’t care usually every commander I served with didn’t max but did pass. Yes they should pass and want everyone under their command to max, this is a very important part of leadership.
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CSM David Porterfield
At least in the Infantry and that's all I can really speak about if you're an officer or NCO you better be at 250 or better if you want Soldiers to respect your ability to lead in combat. Lead from the front.
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Sgt Dale Briggs
Our LT was one of those, tall, long legs he could eat up distance in one stride, he always did 3 miles under 18 minutes. Simple if your a Marine you cannot fail a PT test ever, the minimums are just too ridiculous to mention. Don’t go UNK at the range, that’s unforgivable as well. Other than that I can’t ever remember any Sr NCOs or Sr Officers PT test with us. Must be a double secret thing.
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This is one of those standard vs "the standard" questions. Yep, you cant bust tape or fail. You also can't just do 181 and stand up. I was at varying degrees in my career injured. Long term injuries. It made all that very hard. I took many an APFT circled X. It was better to pass, even if you were close, than have that profile narrative on a command/KD OER.
I did not max APFTs. I worked to have them over 250. When I did that, I was always over the unit average. It also allowed me to compensate between events if I had to nurse something or other. I would sometimes throw sit-ups under the bus and focus on PU and run and still get a half way decent score. I also tried to work on other than APFT physical things to maintain appearance and overall fitness.
As for the question....I did not really care. Everyone is fighting their own battle. I had an officer work for me that spent 2-3 hours each night in self run physical therapy so he could be ready for the next day. I did not think he had a long future soldiering but I admired the grit of looking down the barrel of that everyday and still doing it.
I did not max APFTs. I worked to have them over 250. When I did that, I was always over the unit average. It also allowed me to compensate between events if I had to nurse something or other. I would sometimes throw sit-ups under the bus and focus on PU and run and still get a half way decent score. I also tried to work on other than APFT physical things to maintain appearance and overall fitness.
As for the question....I did not really care. Everyone is fighting their own battle. I had an officer work for me that spent 2-3 hours each night in self run physical therapy so he could be ready for the next day. I did not think he had a long future soldiering but I admired the grit of looking down the barrel of that everyday and still doing it.
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SPC Jesse Peeples
Ltc back at my post at the 489th we had pvt Dunbar and he did the mind over matter too he should have had a officer rank but the regs would not let him
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SrA William Mauldin
Back in 1981 our chief chaplain ran the same test. Move to a different base and have no clue if the Colonel did the test. I know he did not exercise otherwise.
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LTC Jason Mackay
SrA William Mauldin - back when I came in, once you were over 40 you no,longer took a PT test. You were still subject to body composition.
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In all truth and I am being honest. Nope, don't care. Is that the wrong answer probably. To tell you the truth I am not a PT stud myself. I hate running, in fact, I found out I show degeneration at my posterior horn of the medial meniscus. So, running is pretty much out for me now. Now, I do the best that I can and give 100% when I do my PT tests. I just never thought twice about officers. No offense sir, I just worry about my soldiers.
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SGT Robert Mcfadden
Totally agree! I hated running, most of my commanders were pt studs, but some I never saw do pt. But like you I didn't care I was more interested in my soldiers passing and not falling out of the weekly 8 mile runs without taking me with them. (Squad leaders had to retrieve fall outs, so really hard to keep up lol)
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CPT Jeff Robinette
All I cared about for myself was that could set an example for the troops under my command. Do do that I had to do more than pass the PT Test. Did Imax the PT Test every time I took it? No! But I did the very best that I could.
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CPT Jeff Robinette
I just re read your post, I've just recently had my 6th knee surgery. I've had both knees replaced. In had Level 4 Medial Compartment Arthritis in my left knee. I had severe Osteo Arthritis in my right knee. I never knew I had issues with my right knee until I went to my Aunt's funeral in Florida. I stepped into a pew to sit when I felt a hard pop in my knee. I drive back home to MD with a complete tear of my ACL.
My Orthopedist told me that the increase in fluid in my knee caused both the ACL and PCL to atrophy. That tear was bound to happen.
Getting a TKR was the best alternative for me to repair the ACL tear.
I never sisbanything with the VA. After seeing how.my brother has been cared for I won't go there.
While the first 5 surgeries in bad may have a service connection this last one is purely the result of my own stupidity..
Word of advice, later on if you hear the word OSTEOTOMY in a Dr's office get a 2nd, 3rd and maybe even a 4th opinion. It took me 2 1/2 years to fully recover from that surgery. That was done at Johns Hopkins.
My Orthopedist told me that the increase in fluid in my knee caused both the ACL and PCL to atrophy. That tear was bound to happen.
Getting a TKR was the best alternative for me to repair the ACL tear.
I never sisbanything with the VA. After seeing how.my brother has been cared for I won't go there.
While the first 5 surgeries in bad may have a service connection this last one is purely the result of my own stupidity..
Word of advice, later on if you hear the word OSTEOTOMY in a Dr's office get a 2nd, 3rd and maybe even a 4th opinion. It took me 2 1/2 years to fully recover from that surgery. That was done at Johns Hopkins.
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Sgt Dale Briggs
CPT Jeff Robinette - I’ve had 3, and have virtually nothing but bone on bone, what cartilage is there floats in and out and hurts like hell sometimes. Arthritis naturally. I bike 5 miles a day 6 days a week, I use CBD oil which I swear by, and Motrin twice a day. Both my dad and brother had knees replaced, a friend did as well and had a reaction to the Joint resulting in an amputation. So no thanks on more surgeries. Btw running is out, if someone wants to chase me he’s going to have to fight because I can’t run lol.
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SSG (Join to see)
No idea but with his unit he did the “Truscott Trot” a 30 mile 8 hour road march. For the first hour, the men marched at a pace of 5 mph and slowed to 4 mph for the second hour, taking the final 21 miles at a pace of 3.5 mph. If he could keep up he didnt need a PT test to prove he was ready
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2LT Michael Beggs as long as they passed and didn't try to pencil it in or wait until a make up I was Ok with it. I never agreed with nor liked the weigh in part. If you can pass all three events what difference does your weight matter. We can now have gay and transgender sin the ranks and God help you if an opinion slips out but overweight fat bodies have to put up with all sorts of grief! Just glad it's all behind me now( the knees are shot)
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MAJ Michele Bretz
Unfortunately, I was passed over on active duty because of the weight issue and it wasn't found out until I was off of active duty that I actually had hypothyroidism as my diagnosis. They did a full work up on active duty and it came back "within the normal standards" but I had all of the symptoms. I was also taped and within .01% of passing as well as was training for a marathon before I fractured my toe the day before.
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LTC John Mohor
MAJ Michele Bretz I fought the Weight Control issues my entire career. I barely managed to avoid coming off weight control and not getting back on it within the year. It had absolutely nothing to do what I knew about doing my job! I passed my PT tests even the one I took last weekend Battle Training Assembly(Drill). I had my retirement ceremony the next day. Thanks for your service. Be sure to look into the refs to see if there's any way to meet retirement requirements as a Major
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In the grand scheme of life, who cares. If the CO gets out there and takes it with his unit, that is what matters. The ability to run fast has never equaled smart decisions, and I would rather have a slow CO than a stupid one.
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Always passed, but never worried about anyone else's score unless they failed. Have never been a speedster and at 6'2" and 220# I figured the laws of physics were working against me. As a CO, if you failed, you could kiss your command good-by.
As years went by and everything I shouldn't have done caught up with me, usually ran it with a hangover so that my mind could concentrate on how stupid I was to drink the night before rather than the knees, back and other asundry pains.
As years went by and everything I shouldn't have done caught up with me, usually ran it with a hangover so that my mind could concentrate on how stupid I was to drink the night before rather than the knees, back and other asundry pains.
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SPC Erich Guenther
I'm 6-5 and I was pretty fast in fact I got so tired of hearing the ENLISTED LONG LEG PERSON THEORY...........which goes like this. If you have long legs it is so much easier to run faster without the same level of effort as a short person. Is there a medical study behind that somewhere? Of course not. Anyways, every unit I heard it over and over again from the runners that could not run a 6.5 to 7 min mile. I tried to modify the ENLISTED LONG LEGGED THEORY to the ENLISTED LONG ARM THEORY so I could get a discount on push-ups but I could never convince anyone of that. Oh well.
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LtCol Robert Quinter
SPC Erich Guenther - I always had the opposite problem. Although I am tall, most of my height is due to a long trunk rather than legs. I always thought I probably had some similarity to the old cartoon characters where the legs are going a mile a minute, but the overall result is losing ground on the people chasing the character. Who knows, in today's legal environment, perhaps I could have claimed my legs as a disability and gotten special accommodations.
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Not.One.Bit. Never had one fail in 29 years of participation. Only problem I had was young Lt/Capt's running in formation at a 19 min 3 mile pace when it was all I could do run 22 flat. What do you want me to do? Sing or Run? I can't do both at the same time. Semper Fi
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As a medic who has been in both infantry units and hospitals, it depends on the position they hold. An infantry officer must have a high degree of tactical physical ability. On the other hand, I could care less about those traits in a trauma surgeon as long as they are great at saving lives.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
1SG (Join to see) - The part of my life that was Infantry, enlisted and commissioned, an officer was damn sure judged, officially as well as unofficially, on their PT scores. When I branch transferred to the Engineers, much less so. In my battalion, the company grade officers tested with their companies, so you passed or failed in front of Company and I don't remember any of the officers failing. The level of fitness was not anything near what it was in Infantry units and any passing score was at least acceptable.
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CPT (Join to see) Even though I see my CO APFT score, I care more about the CO actually doing the APFT not pencil whipping it, or seeing the CO doing PT with the rest of us
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CPT (Join to see)
Good point. I always hated to see "leaders" pencil whip their PT test. They always think they're being slick about it, but of course everyone knows what's going on.
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