New Army Combat Fitness Test is Here to Stay, Despite Call for Study

2021-03-12T09:36:15-05:00

The Army is largely keeping the new Army Combat Fitness Test, according to Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael A. Grinston, and he urged soldiers in a recent Instagram live event to “take the test.”

Grinston and other Army leaders have addressed questions about the ACFT in various outlets in recent weeks and months. In addition to Grinston hosting the Instagram live event (largely captured by Army Veteran Christopher Chaos on his YouTube channel) and pushing out media through Army channels, leaders have issued statements to military.com, Task and Purpose, and other press. Opinions on the test across traditional and social media vary.

Needing a more resilient Army

The 50-minute ACFT became the official physical fitness test in October 2020. It replaced the sit-up/push-up/two-mile-run Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). The age- and gender-neutral exam originally featured six scored events: a three-repetition deadlift, standing power throw, hand-release push-up, sprint-drag-carry, leg tuck and two-mile run. (The leg-tuck event will soon formally add a plank option.)

Most agree the test is more difficult and requires more equipment and space to administer (https://rly.pt/3vl0Nj5). However, Deputy Commanding General/Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Theodore D. Martin said in a video on the Army Training and Doctrine Command website that the physical fitness test developed 40 years ago didn’t fully prepare soldiers for the demands of war. And today’s soldiers must be ready to carry around heavy body armor and ammunition, and engage in combat, regardless of military occupational specialty.

“That requires a tougher, more physically fit, more resilient soldier,” Martin said. “The ACFT will create and deliver that soldier to the battlefield.” Better training can reduce injury and attrition, the Army also says.

Since the ACFT came out, however, Congress and COVID-19 (and possibly criticism) prompted leaders to delay its implementation for a year.

Although the Army wants all soldiers to take the ACFT for data evaluation purposes, it won’t count on soldiers’ records until March 2022.

Elaborating on this point during the Instagram event, Grinston said that a soldier’s last Army Physical Fitness Test is valid until “further notice.” The new ACFT, he said, is the “test of record” during the evaluation period but “none of your scores are going to count for or against you until March 2022.”

Grinston also said during the event that officials are still looking at how the test data is going to be used along the career continuum.

“The requirement to pass will be age and gender neutral,” he said, but the Army is evaluating how to use each score in areas such as promotions and assessments. “We need all soldiers to take the test in order to have the data to make those decisions.”

Voicing concerns about fairness

Following the ACFT’s October 2020 release, several senators raised concerns about the fairness of the test’s physical skill and resource requirements. U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, last October called on colleagues drafting the annual defense spending bill to require more study of the test.

The following month, the Service Women’s Action Network, a nonpartisan advocacy group for female service members and Veterans, issued a statement calling the Army’s implementation of ACFT “precipitous” and echoed the call for more study. The group urged Congress to require the Army to look at how the test might impact the military careers of women and older soldiers, hurt recruitment and/or retention, cause injury or impact other areas.

A provision to halt implementation of the ACFT until it is further studied passed as part of the Fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, approved Jan. 1, 2021.

The Army is only required to study two relatively narrow issues: 1) Whether those deployed to areas with certain climates or conditions would have a hard time training outdoors for the test, and 2) whether the test would affect recruitment and retention of critical military specialties such as medical personnel.

Adding a plank option

Even so, in a sign the ACFT could evolve, Grinston said during the Instagram event that the next iteration of the test will allow soldiers to choose between a leg-tuck or plank event. (Soldiers could receive a maximum score of 400 if they hold the plank for 4-plus minutes.)

Grinston said only about 20% of the Army has taken the ACFT so far. He encouraged soldiers to take it so the Army can gather more testing data and finalize implementation of the fitness test. Don’t expect “major changes to how the test is conducted,” he added.

“Physical fitness is not new to soldiers,” Sgt. First Class Nakelia Ramey noted in a March 2 video posted to the Army’s Twitter feed. “So, the ACFT, it may be a challenge, but we are able to get through it.”

Learn more

Access the U.S. Army’s main page with resources on the ACFT: http://rly.pt/3cpY1Aj

Read the Oct. 20, 2020, letter sent by Sens. Gillibrand and Blumenthal to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees: http://rly.pt/38yL0mS

Read the Feb. 27, 2021, article, “A trailblazing female Ranger grad has reignited the debate over the Army’s controversial new fitness test”: http://rly.pt/2N9PYPo

View the March 1, 2021, YouTube summary of Grinston’s question-and-answer session about the ACFT: https://rly.pt/3vhvW6J

Watch Sgt. First Class Nakelia Ramey discuss how she prepares for the ACFT: https://rly.pt/38vDARu

Read TRADOC’s March 4, 2021, article, “The ACFT is designed for combat — TRADOC shows why”: http://rly.pt/3cnaNzD

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Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Mar 12 at 2021 9:43 AM

2021-03-12T09:43:55-05:00

Thank you for the share RallyPoint Shared Content

Response by SGT Herbert Bollum made Mar 12 at 2021 9:46 AM

2021-03-12T09:46:06-05:00

doesn't look good to me

Response by SFC Melvin Brandenburg made Mar 12 at 2021 9:50 AM

2021-03-12T09:50:45-05:00

One uniform standard seems fair, except do we use the women's standard, the old dude standard, or make everyone meet the stud. I mean, if the army wanted to save money on retirement pensions, this is a good way to do it.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2021 11:23 AM

2021-03-12T11:23:05-05:00

All good

Response by Cpl David Hamilton made Mar 12 at 2021 12:48 PM

2021-03-12T12:48:22-05:00

You notice the only complainers are the democrats in congress. Their only physical exercise is moving their jaws and tongues. My son has taken this test 4 times and is at 593 of 600. He is the PT trainer for his unit. It does require more PT. If done correctly, it should reduce injuries and have a more fit Army to meets it current needs.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2021 4:01 PM

2021-03-12T16:01:23-05:00

Well, whatever the standard, all things being equal the ACFT will statistically reduce fitness readiness in the Reserves.

If only because of administrative execution limitations.

1) Equipment is issued at the BN level.
2) The test itself now takes an entire day, sometimes two depending on the size of the unit
3) Company level tests have to be coordinated across all the companies under the same BN to share equipment.
3a) Eventually equipment will start to become lost, and testing will be hard to complete per the reg.
4) The ACFT event will become much on par as Weapon Qual weekends. They will be mandatory events with no excused absences, on top of the two annual Mass Medical events already unexcused, on top of AT already unexcused. Soldiers will merely eat the "U" in order to attend a critical civilian event like finishing a college degree verses an ACFT.
5) Soldiers flagged will not have the ability to remove the flag until the next large coordinated BN level ACFT record event.
5a) School attendance will go down as a result of increased flags and duration of flags.
5b) Promotions will slow as well as a result of extended flags
5c) Current Record ACFT scores will also roll off as a result of administrative timing between record events and simply not being able to attend reduced record event frequency.

At the highest level of the USAR the choice then becomes maintaining a strategic national level reserve capability or letting it administratively dwindle.

If the ACFT is not changed it will simply have to have many administrative exceptions.
Examples:
1) Current record now lasts 24 months not 12.
2) School don't require a current passing record, or only require it for high skill more expense schools.
3) Promotions might not require current passing record at E5-6 level or O1-O3

************
All things being equal, and the fitness level of the USAR soldier being the same in that the soldier that could pass the APFT today assumed could pass the ACFT tomorrow the reported passing metrics on the spreadsheet to the generals is going to be lower.

Response by LCpl Joshua Ironfield made Mar 15 at 2021 2:15 PM

2021-03-15T14:15:23-04:00

sounds like fun

Response by MAJ Brett Rosequist made Mar 19 at 2021 2:00 PM

2021-03-19T14:00:19-04:00

Certainly there are growing pains. But it's a much better way to evaluate overall physical health versus the APFT. If the Army cares about combat readiness, this is a solid step forward towards that goal.

As a nuance, I do see the benefit of establishing different qualification tiers based on MOS and/or role. Also, as this is a better measure of fitness than the APFT, get rid of the inconsistent/nonsense body weight/fat tests.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2021 11:26 AM

2021-03-20T11:26:43-04:00

I have taken this test 3 times now, each time I seen the females not put in the effort required. The mindset I here them say and from males too, this is not for record or it dont count. This is why the data is showing false information resulting in the low percentages. Granted there are a lot of women that can pass all the events with ease however, maybe they should look at the data closer to see what event is causing the most failure. The test should not be gender based, the standards are there for everyone and if you cant meet the standard, go home, the Army is not for you.

Response by Wayne Soares made Mar 23 at 2021 8:18 PM

2021-03-23T20:18:19-04:00

Thanks for the share

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 26 at 2021 5:30 PM

2021-03-26T17:30:35-04:00

All this test is going to do is drive up medical costs, reduce the number of people eligible to deploy, increase the number of people on profiles and overload its surgeons dealing with the back issues that are going to occur. this test is the brain child of a raving idiot who should be locked in a rubber room for their own safety,.

Response by LtCol Bruce Janis made Apr 5 at 2021 12:13 AM

2021-04-05T00:13:37-04:00

We seem to be missing the point that the PT tests are designed to demonstrate that soldiers are expected to keep in good enough shape to engage in combat. If they are allowed to stuff off and ignore the tests, the Army has failed in its mission to prepare for war. Been there, seen that. Had a Guard company in 1979 with a 40% AWOL rate PT test? Few passed. But it didn’t matter...Cal Guard did not want to do anything, get rid of the no-shows and the 40th Division would end up as a brigade, lose too many flag officers that way...

Response by SPC Steven Nihipali made May 10 at 2021 9:57 PM

2021-05-10T21:57:02-04:00

pretty sure my broken ass could train up and pass the PT test now... so does that mean I can reenlist for an admin job?

Response by SPC Charles Nesbitt made May 25 at 2021 2:36 PM

2021-05-25T14:36:46-04:00

If women want to soldier like men they need the same test. They are saying they can do it and we wouldn't want to take that from them. If they don't want to, put them back in the WACS and let the men be men. Females don't need test dumbed down for them. I was always bored by the army PT in the '70's.

Charles Nesbitt

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 30 at 2021 1:41 AM

2021-05-30T01:41:56-04:00

I got a buddy that works in division at Fort Riley and he is in charge of implementing this thing. Last February he said he doubted it'll be adapted since so many are failing it.