I have a soldier with an ETS date is in 20 days, and the command wants to give him a PT test. Does the soldier have to do it/pass or fail?

There is no compelling reason for the command to require this PT test. Seems like plain harassment to me. There is also the risk of an injury that would not be in the best interest of the soldier or the Army.

William Stoltzfus COL(R)

Maybe the Command needs the PT test score for his EER or for his recommendation For an Award or just herrassment .

(S)he is still in the military and must follow all legal orders including the PT test. When I got out my PLT SGT ordered me to do the PT test the morning of my Phase 2 (ETS) physical. It was a lawful order so I did it. I did 10 push ups, 10 situps, and the spent 2 hours walking. After that I went to my physical. So, yes, you can be ordered to do it up until you have your DD-214 in hand.

To answer the question as posed, Yes, the soldier has to take it. Orders are just that, they don't have to make sense to you, they just have to be legal.

Let’s analyze this comment. “The command” is this the work of an overzealous CPL or an inexperienced young Sergeant? Yes, there are some Captains out there that may not know all policies or procedures, but every Captain there is a First Sergeant. No, the command is completely wrong, because the command should know that a Soldier should not be involved in any training that can cause an injury after the final physical. All commanders goes through a Command Training along with their 1SG. Further more this Soldier does not even count for the total number of taking the APFT (APFT. sorry I know it’s different now). He is a loss and therefore doesn’t count for an average.
I read all comments in this blog, and glad to hear that are people out there that try to preserve a good image of our Armed Forces while other trying hard to smear it. For all my brothers and sisters thank you, makes me proud to see after 30 years of Service.

It is just this sort of harassment that shows just how inferior the person doing the nonsense harassment is (a real "leadership" example if you ask me)... Often fueled by envy or jealousy I believe. I had to take a PT test on my retirement as well. Pure nonsense!

Other than stats, what’s the point of forcing the soldier to do the PT test within 20 days of ETS? I get it that “it’s PT, so what?” That soldier probably doesn’t care about that unit’s stats or the possibility of not receiving an ETS award.

Hey there Mead, I think your nothing but a numbers guy and I would have told you to stick it up your you know what!!!

I took a PT one week before retirement. Easier to show up and do it than argue about it.

It is the Commander's discretion. Even if the Soldier has finished his or hers VA physical. If the Soldier gets injured, they can add the injury to their claim. This happened to me and I was retiring.