Posted on Jun 5, 2019
SPC Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic
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I always asked myself why does the army always run all the time. we run almost 3 times a week on top on a pt test for 2 miles. To me it's pointless to ever run that far. Can name one time you ran 2 miles on your life to for a reason besides the military that mattered.
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SFC Retention Operations Nco
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Because the Air Force runs 1.5 and we have to do everything better than them
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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6 y
Cpl Steve Eaton - they never ran two miles or more at any one time.
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CPT Advisor
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6 y
Cpl Steve Eaton - The minimum passing run time for the Marine PFT 3 mile run is 28 minutes.
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SFC Public Affairs Nco
SFC (Join to see)
6 y
CMSgt Virgil Horsley - "Pheidippides was sent to run from Marathon to Athens in under 36 hours to announce that there had been a victory against the Persians. He died when arriving to Athens after delivering the message."
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CPL Deanna Green (Parkinson)
CPL Deanna Green (Parkinson)
6 y
Oh that's hilarious, and I thought they rode a bike??? LOL! (No offense intended to my AF com-padres!)
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
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It's not about the distance, it's about measuring cardio vascular health. The run is an "endurance" test. It's a proxy within a HEALTH test. For whatever reason, people seem to forget that the (A)PFT is nothing more than a simple HEALTH test. It measures basic health metrics; upper body strength (pushups/pullups), core strength (crunches/situps), and cardiovascular endurance (run).
It is not a combat test and was not designed to be one.
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GySgt William Hardy
GySgt William Hardy
6 y
I disagree with the concept. It should be physical fitness combat test like it was done years ago. Running does not make a Marine or Soldier. See my comment about it in another area of this topic.
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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funny, I've seen plenty of "PT studs" that could run like the wind on the 2 mile run but couldn't carry their own body weight, much less a 40 pound ruck and other gear, for a 6 mile march. The military does it because it is cheap, easy, relatively quick and requires no special equipment. All the PT test measures is how well you can do push up, sit ups and run. It does not measure overall fitness.
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SPC Douglas Thompson
SPC Douglas Thompson
6 y
I was in the opposite group. Struggled making time in the run, but I had no trouble with the 12 mile battalion marches we had in 2ID. As a medic I carried the normal ruck plus my aid bag, about 50# total weight, and passed some of the guys who smoked me in the run.
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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6 y
SPC Douglas Thompson - Same here. I never struggled making time in the run, always managed to finish with at least a minute to spare. But I could smoke most of the runners on a ruck march. First 6 mile ruck at OBC, I finished almost an hour ahead of the guy who came in 2nd.
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Why does the army run 2 miles on a PT test?
SSG Environmental Specialist
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Sounds to me like you just don't like to run.
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Cpl Jeff N.
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It is a measure of basic physical fitness. If you have the endurance to run two miles (or 3 in the Marines) then that demonstrates a basic level of fitness to be able to function.

There may be a time where you need to run two miles or hump at a route step for many more. Don't fall into the mind set you will never need to do it. Your life may depend on your fitness. If running two miles is a drag, try the Bataan death march or the hump from the Chosin Reservoir back or a hundred other maneuvers the armed forces have had to do to either attack or survive.
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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6 y
never in the history of warfare has anyone ever had to run for 2 miles....ever.....
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Cpl Jeff N.
Cpl Jeff N.
6 y
LTC (Join to see) - I am not sure that statement is true but you don't run the two miles because you will have to run exactly two miles (more or less) in combat. You need to be physically fit in combat. You need to have endurance, stamina, strength, cardio etc. etc. etc. Running is one way to measure that. The training events are also, not just a PFT.

If you have people that cannot pass a PFT or stay in a 15 mile hump in full gear or complete a battalion run you very likely have someone not very physically fit. In the Marine Corps, falling out of a run (battalion, company, platoon size) or falling out of a hump or failing a PFT was a red flag for remedial PT.

I am not sure why you seem so averse to a 2 mile run, it is really a very minimal requirement. A healthy, physically fit person should easily be able to make the run in the time. If you cannot you likely will have many other physical events you will not complete.
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
LTC (Join to see)
6 y
Cpl Jeff N. that’s just my point: the 2 mile run is a very minimal requirement and doesn’t really tell you anything about a soldier’s overall fitness or combat readiness. Like I’ve said, big difference between running 2 miles in shorts and sneakers and humping a full load of gear for 2 miles. You seem to be under the false impression that I believe the 2 mile run is too hard. Quite the opposite, it's too easy. I once completed the 2 mile run in 16 minutes with full blown bronchitis. There have been times where I got lazy and went 2-3 months without running and was still able to pass the run.
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Cpl Jeff N.
Cpl Jeff N.
6 y
LTC (Join to see) - I am with you Bruce. It is a minimum standard as is the rest of the PFT. Humping 15-20 miles with a full load is much harder and, at least in my day, the training schedule still had those type of training regimens in them. There are lots of things that you need to be able to do that will be harder than a PFT. I am concerned that the PFT is becoming something that some view as the gold standard. It is one test. You need proficiency at your job, you have to hump the load, go on patrol, operate with little sleep or food etc.
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Sgt Justin Horn
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It’s called ‘building up endurance’ Jackwagon… during the Persian Gulf War with Dragons Plt. WPNS Co. 1/7 1st Mar. Div. Task Force Ripper under Lt. Col. Mattis, we were loaded to bear when finally broke out live ordnance day before ground operations commenced.

Beside dawning a MOPP suit & Deuce gear carried 9 magazines of 5.56 plus a bandolier in my butt pack, 20 rounds of 40mm for my M16/203, 6 grenades along with my AN/TAS-5 Nightsight.
Funny thing happened when deployed out back of the Amtrak running into our first firefight… all weight carried, heat endured, oil/smoke saturated air sucked in, it was immediately forgotten!

This all made possible from the multiple miles ran over the years be it in shorts, boots & utes, full combat loads prior to that fateful deployment.
Oh yeah, the 30-40 days spent at MWTC Bridgeport, Ca. humping 16 miles a day to/from training area with personal & crew served weapons along with a loaded ALICE pack a week before landing in Saudi Arabia didn’t hurt either.

After I came home from active duty hooked up with my local Marine Reserve Unit for another 4yrs because missed the comradery.
During that time and since usually run those same three miles after working 8-10 hours as a carpenter foreman in commercial construction usually 3 time's a week just to unwind.
Keeping me in shape is just an added bonus!
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LCDR Keith Trepanier
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Edited 6 y ago
Read or watch "Blackhawk Down" and then ask the question again if you still think it doesn't matter. I never had to do a push up or sit up to complete an Army task either but I realized that it was done to provide me a minimal assurance I was fit enough to do my job. At least running is something I may actually have to do.

Running two miles is just an easy way to test your endurance. It is a lot faster to do that than to make you walk 12 miles in full gear for a PT test. You may never run two miles straight outside of PT but you may have to move around all day, you may have to do a lot of things that require endurance. Plus, if it really hits the fan, you may be escaping and evading, or hurrying to a safe location. Besides, two miles is not that far.

Other reasons for running besides the military telling you that matter? Being able to keep up with your kids, running a race and trying to win, being physically fit, playing soccer, running from your wife after you made her mad...
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
LTC (Join to see)
6 y
really read Blackhawk Down. Those guys didn't run the whole way out, despite how it was portrayed in the movie. Additionally, they didn't run all the way back to the stadium. They moved on foot back to a rally point where Pakistani tanks and vehicles from 10th MTN were waiting to take them back to the stadium. The distance covered on foot was ~800 meters (less than 1/2 mile) and they didn't run the entire way.
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LCDR Keith Trepanier
LCDR Keith Trepanier
6 y
I know they didn’t run that far. Read the book multiple times. But they did endure a whole lot in that time period and were on foot.with zero endurance they would have been done before they even started. I could cited multiple events or movies that showed endurance is a critical asset but I chose Blackhawk Down off the top of my head.
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LCDR Keith Trepanier
LCDR Keith Trepanier
6 y
Also, it is a lot easier to walk after running for years than to run after walking for years.
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
LTC (Join to see)
6 y
point being, you're never going to have to run that far. you will, however, have to walk that far and farther.... Ask anyone who has become a no run profile and they'll tell you that it is not at all easy to transition from running to walking. The kinetics are totally different. running does not directly correlate or translate into walking/rucking. I've seen many "runners" who couldn't keep up on a ruck.
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Sgt Justin Horn
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Edited 6 y ago
B182c911
It’s called ‘building up endurance’ Jackwagon… during the Persian Gulf War with Dragons Plt. WPNS Co. 1/7 1st Mar. Div. Task Force Ripper under Lt. Col. Mattis, we were loaded to bear when finally broke out live ordnance day before ground operations commenced.

Beside dawning a MOPP suit & Deuce gear carried 9 magazines of 5.56 plus a bandolier in my butt pack, 20 rounds of 40mm for my M16/203, 6 grenades along with my AN/TAS-5 Nightsight.
Funny thing happened when deployed out back of the Amtrak running into our first firefight… all weight carried, heat endured, oil/smoke saturated air sucked in, it was immediately forgotten!
This all made possible from the multiple miles ran over the years be it in shorts, boots & utes, full combat loads prior to that fateful deployment.

Oh yeah, the 30-40 days spent at MWTC Bridgeport, Ca. humping 16 miles a day to/from training area with personal & crew served weapons along with a loaded ALICE pack a week before landing in Saudi Arabia didn’t hurt either.

After I came home from active duty hooked up with my local Marine Reserve Unit for another 4yrs because missed the comradery.
During that time and since usually run those same three miles after working 8-10 hours as a carpenter foreman in commercial construction usually 3 time’s a week just to unwind.
Keeping in shape is just an added bonus!
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SGT Carl Blas
SGT Carl Blas
6 y
7834a10f
Yes, Endurance is the Key.
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COL John McClellan
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Edited 6 y ago
Like most things in the Army, there are reasons at many levels. Running is specifically an activity for cardio-vascular fitness, but it is more than that. It is in the Army's interest that all soldiers develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, overall. Then there are the leadership aspects - PT sessions have to be led by someone, so junior leaders are trained and developed. Running in particular, is a group activity, so you learn how to control a dismounted group of moving soldiers, with voice commands and other visual cues. You learn how to plan a route, how to evaluate safety, so forth. Team-building occurs. There's always more than one thing going on with most Army training.
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PO3 Lonnie Baker
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You kind of answered your own question. Outside the military it doesn't matter. However, if the fecal matter hits the rotating oscillator.... (shit hits the fan)...for the Army and Marine guys and girls, if that happens and it's 2 miles to your evac point. You might want to get there before the bird lifts off.
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