How does your Commander's performance on their PT test influence your opinion of them?

As an old 1SG. I always worked for my personal best. However I was to set the example. Now for my boss his personal best was his goal. But to fail for any Soldier regardless of who they are or their rank is not acceptable. Senior NCOS are in charge of the standards of the unit. PERIOD! SO IF THE COMMANDER FALLS SHORT THEY NEED TO BE COUNSELED. NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW SO TO SPEAK. IVE EXPERIENCED OFFICERS BEING IN THAT MINDSET. NCOS ARE TO TAKE CARE OF ALL SOLDIERS REGARDLESS OF THEIR RANK INCLUDING OFFICERS. THEY ARE RESISTANT TO THIS IDEA BUT THAT IS THE WAY IT IS. I JUST DUG IN MY HEALS AND THEY FINALLY GOT THE MEGGAGE. DO IT TACTFULLY.
MY RULE OF THUMB AS I PASSED IT ALONG TO SOLDIERS IS THIS
DISAGREEMENT IS NOT DISRESPECT!

I don't think any of us cared and I just expected the old man to pass. We had a 1SG the guy had muscles on his face. He looked sharpe in a uniform and would max the PT test every time. This guy was not the sharpest tool in the shed and since he was horrible at his job received zero respect from 90% of us. The commander was an average or slightly better PT guy. The boss was super smart, knew his job, and was a great leader. Most of us still talk to the commander and we left the army 22 years ago. The CO retired and now spends his time helping soldiers with PTSD.

Get a profile. If you can't beat them......join them. If you gave a shit about what people thought of you then why did you join the Army?

Commanders are expected to set the standard. If you're ok with having mediocre standards, I guess it doesn't matter how he does.

My partner will be expected to at least keep up with me and set a clear example of expectations.

In Special Operations, it definitely matters. The best commanders also happened to be PT studs, even pushing 50 and older. There was a saying one of the best Colonels I knew used to say, "We're going for a run, I don't know how far or how fast, but I expect you to be there next to me at the end." It was an analogy to his type of leadership, where he would never ask anyone in his command to do something he couldn't do or hadn't already done in his career. It's the age-old idea of the difference between management and leadership. Leaders inspire and set the example for their subordinates through their actions. Performing sub-par on a PT test might seem like no big deal, because it's not important in the whole scheme of things, but if the commander commits to excelling at even the small things, it shows that they also excel at the more important things. It's a simple concept, to dedicate oneself to excelling in all areas, big and small, but it certainly isn't easy, which is what makes it so important for leaders to do. They can expect their subordinates to live up to the high standards they set when they demonstrate with their actions that such a goal is actually possible to achieve.

In the 22 years I served, I only had two PT studs for Commander. Both were natural jocks, but not great officers as their basic soldier skills suffered by their spending more time in the gym. On the other hand, I also had two officers (an 0-3 and an 0-5) who were so out of shape they would have been liabilities in the event of having to deploy.

An APFT score is not a measure of leadership ability. An ignorant meathead can supermax but can’t find the latrine without a PFC. meeting and exceed the standard is expected, having to max is ridiculous. The ability to inspire others to succeed and grow as soldiers trumps running sub six miles as an indicator of leadership.

Do your best, and satisfy yourself.

Set the example by doing the best that you can. If your soldiers busting your ass, they don't care if you are not a 300 every time.

If my commander couldn’t score a 270 or above, everyone in the company would be tracking. I’ve never seen an instance where that was the case though. That may be because I’ve always been in infantry companies and infantry officers are always really fast or really strong or both. Rarely have I ever seen one that didn’t fall into one of those categories, they stay in S shops and never become PLs or Commanders I think honestly.