Is it possible for every Soldier (not on profile) to score a 300 on the APFT?

No, some people are dealing with body issues that have made it next to impossible.  I for example suffered some pretty bad knee damage while I was in.  I have bone-on-bone contact in my right knee.  Just the act of walking is painful but every PT test I did I would run the 2 miles (probably not the smartest move).  My Soldiers knew that I had a bad knee but they never saw me stop to walk or take a break.  I ran as fast as I could to get around the track within the allowed time.  Was I skating on the line between pass and fail?  You bet I was.  But I did push myself and I worked hard to maintain my push up and sit up scores because I needed those to carry my test.

I agree. I tried for years to get a 300 before I finally said f it! Would miss sit-ups, next id miss push-ups. and when I was a younger man and active duty I ran a 12:14 was my fastest. So the APFT at a 270 cut off I think would Even the playing field for us that bust our a$$ to do what we get to the ones that are naturally PT STUDS!

I have never scored a 300 on my PT test, but I have been really close. With that said, I know if I trained a bit more on just the PT test, I could. I am going to vote yes because if you want it bad enough, you can achieve it.

Seriously have seen people put down a goal and achieve it.

It's disturbing to me to see all the people who are saying, "Of course, anybody can achieve a 300, it's just a matter of willpower."

I'm going to start by laying out my personal qualifications, in part to respond to the folks who think that those saying "No, not everyone can achieve a 300" are saying it because they can't do it, and in part to make it clear that I have an understanding of the science behind the answer. I never took an APFT, but I have maxed out the Marine Corps' test and the Navy's test. As a 40+ year old, I qualified for and ran as a member of one of the Navy's regional running and triathlon teams, and have held coaching certifications from RRCA and the Cooper Institute, and have spent years coaching runners at various levels.

Every human body has ultimate physical limitations that it cannot exceed. If you give a coach complete control over someone's diet, training regimen, sleep - in short, their whole life, there's still a maximum that the person can achieve. For some people that maximum is Olympic caliber performance. For others, even with perfect diet, sleep, training, etc., they're not even going to pass the APFT. For the people in the latter category, they almost certainly have identifiable physical ailments that make them unqualified to be in the Army. But then we have the middle ground. In between people with physical ailments and physically gifted people who are capable of Olympic caliber performance is everybody else. For the run (which the careful reader will note is my area of expertise), a person's absolute limits are genetically determined. A person's proportion of fast-twitch to slow-twitch muscles, hemoglobin concentration and the mechanical structure of their legs aren't something that can be changed by training. Those factors set a person's maximum limit and for some people, those limits won't allow them to max the run, no matter how much and how well they train. All that said, there aren't that many people for whom that's the case. But it's certainly worth noting that every decision to do something is a decision not to do something else. For some less-physically-gifted people, the whole-life effort required to max their run would take away from their ability to perform the rest of their job. I don't actually want someone to be a less effective soldier, or to ignore their personal life, just to be able to max their APFT.

One great thing about the Navy's PRT program is that it has added

Yes everyone has limits, but a 300 on the APFT is not near the limits of what a trained person can accomplish. Barring an actual injury, anyone with the motivation to put in the work can get a 300.

No, not everyone can, and those guys that are genetically gifted will never understand that. For me it is the run. I am a big guy, 6'4" and 255 pounds, Army for 15 years, my average score is around 265 to 275. Senior leaders tend to think I am overweight too, because of how I am built, but I always pass tape, and I went to a professional nutritionist two years ago who gave me a 5 point caliper test and I was at 17% body fat. So I decided to push myself as far as I could go to try to get a better score, I ended up developing Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome in both of my legs from it and am looking at my second surgery next month to try to correct the problem. The surgeon said I was pre-disposed to the problem because of my build and the way that my legs were developed. She also said that I will probably end up with a permanent profile after this if I get to stay in at all, best case being own pace and distance. It was all because of the friggin run. Which I didn't think was bad to begin with, I ran in the 14s, maxed by push-ups, and got over a 90% on my sit-ups, but it still wasn't good enough.

I would of like an other box becuse no everyone cant be the best. Everyone will not max out pt. At the same time everyone should not get promoted we promote the best. You lead from the front. However most people could get the score that they want if the put the time into working towards it. To many people dont do pt outside of Unit PT. Some people are hurt that are not on profile. If Pt is something that you want then work towards it and get it. Is it fair no but the army is not about being fair it is about being the best.

There are no universes in which I would ever have achieved a 300 on a PT test. It was trying to just keep up with the standard for the run, let alone exceed it, that completed the destruction of my knees.

The highest I have received in the Army was a 299, I missed my run by 1 second. I know that I can make a 300 if I tried to do it though. I do not think though that it should weigh in so much on the promotion scale, I would rather my Soldier know his or her MOS. Don't get me wrong I do not want a fat body in my section. I train my Soldiers and conduct a diag once a week and we go on out pt from there. I do not want them to just focus on their pt score however, but I do know the confidence that that will bring to them when they do max their pt tests on their next go arounds. PT is important, and it is up to the Soldier to be able to push themselves to get the score that they want. I have a PT test coming up this week, and I know that I will not be getting a 300. The reason for this? I have not pushed myself as hard as I should have to get that score. I can guarantee that my next one though I will get a 300.