What would you change about the APFT?

APFT needs retooling, should be 5 events. I say 100 yard sprints till the last one falls out, Pullups, Crunches, drag a dummy, I would do a vertical jump

I would love a healthy balance of both or even better simply to add to.

Hold the standard 2/2/2 APFT assessment as a general overall look of a persons physical fitness level and ability.

Another thing that could benefit the force is implementing a injury prone assessment that is currently being used on IET soldiers. This could help identify soldiers that may need conditioning to prevent serious injury just from our day to day garrison lifestyle.


Follow up 2/2/2 (not the same day) with a MOS specific physical assessment.
I'll example medics because I am one, but the assessment could go with loading up (wearing of kit and aid bag) with a short distance sprint to a simulated casualty, I believe the simulated casualty should weight at a minimum of 200lbs to allow realism to the common actual weight of a soldier fully loaded down (even though it probably far exceeds the 200 mark) following that a the medic would do a quick visual assessment and preform a buddy carry/drag for 25/50m. preform a full casualty assessment with interventions and evacuate the casualty. to medics reading this it may all seem very AIT like standard but doing so bi annually I think would boost proficiency skills across the board for the MOS as well as identify those who need retraining and those who cannot successfully complete need to be MOS DQd and to either reclass or separate.

Similar things could be established per MOS.

Unrealistic idea though as implementing this per MOS across the army would end up costing a lot of money. .

They should changed it from 80/80/80 not 60/60/60 period.

The length of the run only measures endurance, so perhaps agility or shorter runs would be more appropriate. The only time we're going to run/walk that far is with a ruck on our back...

The APFT is outdated, irrelevant and proves nothing about the combat readiness of the soldier. I never had to run 2 miles in shorts and running shoes in combat. I did however, have to sprint in full kit and walk for long distances under a load. The APFT has no metric to test strength, speed or agility. It's all endurance. (push-ups ARE NOT a strength metric). Endurance is the most important aspect of combat readiness. No doubt. But I believe other aspects should be tested as well. Because if they are tested, they will be trained and consequently increased. Making the solider a more complete, well rounded warrior.

1. 6 mile road march with body armor, rifle and 35 lb pack
2. 400 m sprint with body armor and rifle
3. Body weight bench press for reps
4. Strict form pullups for reps
4. A standardized obstacle course that involves, sprinting, climbing, low crawling, quickly changing directions and some sort of balance stress. (agility)

My CC/FSC at Ft Jackson discussed the sit up event. Questions like: Why doesn't the Army just make Soldiers cross their arms across their chests instead of having hands behind the head? Wouldn't it stop the neck injuries from Soldiers cranking their neck when they are struggling to make the last few reps count? These were just a few questions that brought up much discussion on what changes could possibly be made if approved by DA. Pull-ups were also discussed and mostly everyone agreed to add that event but with mixed results on how it would be graded for points.

Pull-ups instead of push-ups.

I agree that the APFT works fine.  However, the standards for each event could be customized depending on the unit mission, e.g. combat, combat service support.

I think one problem with the test is the maximum and minimum scores. It encourages soldiers to either do the minimum required to pass or stop at the maximum even though they can do more. I think the requirement should be to do as many as possible with the time allotted. The passing scores could be adjusted on an annual basis. Also consider an expert badge for those who max all events.

If I had to change the APFT..I would run first then do the situps then pushups in that order.