National Guard NCOs, how do we fix our APFT numbers? We can not force soldiers to PT outside of IDT status. How can we fix it?

Same struggle it's been for 18 years. This year I watched 20 year olds huff and puff to do the push-ups while me at 41 passed my APFT. You can say what you will but without a little effort, for me it's push up and sit ups a couple times a week it's not hard to pass. I am worried about this new APFT that's coming and wondering how the guard will afford the equipment for it

Stop promotions. Stop allowing favoritism for staff. Stop pencil wiping PT Cards to make the unit look good. Require effective 4187s on every Soldier ever drill. Make sure unsat PT scores reflect on NCOER and enlisted evals. Stop trying to be a buddy, ve a leader and hold your peers and subordinates accountable.

This might not be a popular fix. Start a war. Through out my career of 23 years 4 months and 10 days of service. I have noticed when the big army needs numbers they look the other way during pre mobe. Fat over weight and can’t pass a pt test. Shit your on the list. The only thing that happens is they will not be promoted on deployment. When war is over they oust them unless they get an old a lod in country. I’m old school. Be all you can be. If your not motivated to hold the standards and discipline. I don’t need you on my aircraft. So here is the delima. Most NG are combat vets now and they fill privilege. They earned that right in my eyes but you have to hold the standards So to motivate the soldiers. Cut the dead weight and motivate your troops. Better to bleed in training than on the battlefield. So follow the guidelines. Be a NCO and not a SGT.

Just to clarify, the National Guard and the Reserves have the same issues as Active Components. As a NCO, you don't have the power to fix APFT numbers. You can only do what is pushed down through the chain of command. Depending on the numbers of your state, you may just have to counsel the soldier and give remedial. The sad part is, it put tremendous strain on the individuals that are required to baby sit the PT failures. Personally while being placed in acting CO position for a Engineer Company the directive came from the Brigade Commander. So weather good or bad it was their call. The other issue I ran into is they would come right out of basic flagged because they couldn't pass the APFT and was sent back to unit and the unit would have to either get the individual to pass or process him or her out. Which took a considerable amount of wasted manhours.
On the Reserve/National Guard side, there really is no fix for APFT numbers, we don't have the option of day care or the the time to waist like AC does.

You council failures and start separating them. I like the idea of the military paying for gym memberships as most active duty have access to the base gym, most reservist and guardsmen don’t live on base

It’s always fun to make fun of the Air Force, however one thing that they do very well, is that they outsource their Physical Training (PT) test, that way officers can’t pencil whip their own PT Tests, amongst them selves. Start enforcing the standard from the top, and it will trickle down. Also, do away with preferential lower standard PT Tests, for female servicemembers. They get the same pay, same opportunities, we should have the same standard.

When I was a Battery Commander, I had a few Soldiers who consistently failed 5ge APFT. My 1SG and I started the process for separation, however it is ultimately up to the Adjutant General of each state to deny or approve the separation. At the time, our state was worried about retention and end strength numbers so none of my APFT failures were separated. When APFT failures were separated, they received General Discharges with no consequences for failing to meet and maintain standards of being a Soldier. Maybe I'm just old school and mean, but I believe if you get chartered out for failing to maintain standards, you deserve an Other Than Honorable discharge. Why should they be eligible to receive veteran status and benefits when they failed to uphold their end of the contract?

This is an Army problem. Take a page from the Marines to fix it. We don't encourage top conditioning in the Army from Day 1. We allow PT profiles which further kills morale. I've seen Guard units with every Senior NCO on a damn walking profile... Disgusting! Leaders have to fix themselves before a reasonable solution will be found.

First you counsel and FLAG them - which means no favorable actions. Can’t go to school, can’t get promoted, can’t get awards (well, that happens if they fail height/weight. Then give them an APFT for record each month, until you start the separation paperwork. Oh and if they get separated and are using the GI bill, they will lose that.

BN, BDE, and State have to follow policy and chapter APFT failures out. They talk a big game about abiding by the rules, but retention is their main mission, si they leave the problem children around to keep numbers up. If we get rid of that, and have only a dedicated force, retention and recruitment will get better. Higher ups will blame us in the lower levels for "doing it to ourselves", but they ultimately have to finish the paperwork trail.