Why does the army run 2 miles on a PT test?

Except the Air Force has better facilities.

you go to combat and your vehicle gets shoot up, the nearest help is 2 and a half miles away, and the enemy is bearing down on you. What are you going to do? Are you going to sit there and get shoot and killed or are you going to try and get to help? That's why you run!

Ground forces learned during WW1 - WW2 and other conflicts that the best way to bring soldiers home was to make sure that they were in good physical shape. Combat readiness is the goal along with soldiers returning home. Long foot marches led to some issues and we learned from the past that some health issues could be prevented by a well thought out PT program. The Air Force is a service that is not on the ground and mostly supports the Marines and Army. Being on the ground in different terrain and environments means being physically fit and mentally prepared. The better shape you are in, the better mentally and physically prepared you are. So that 2 miles might just prepare you to save a life of someone or yourself.

Based on the comments I've read it appears to me that some of U's haven't been in combat. This is the "New Army" that I hate; nothing but a bunch of baby whiners. Why this, why that, how come, what's the point. I learned from my BC Drill Sgt Conway (VN Vet) never to ask why, but, do as you're told and that my friends is the reason why I'm still alive. NOT TO PUT DOWN those 58,479 who didn't come back from Nam and Y'all should be thankful and pay RESPECT to them because they paid the highest price for us to enjoy our Freedom of Speech and Expression and quit your whining. The more you sweat running the 2 miles, the less you'll bleed in combat.

Very simple: running 2 miles (or more) on a regular basis increases both your cardio fitness and your endurance. Specifically, it helps you put in continuous 18+ hour days, while conducting operations.
While stationed in Germany in the mid-80s, in garrison, my unit ran 5 to 8 miles per day (in formation), 5 days a week.
One result of that running program was a level of fitness and endurance that allowed working 18 to 22+ hours a day for the duration of those 2 or 3 week long FTXs.
Does running 2 miles have any direct correlation to something you might do in combat? Probably not. But, it does give you the cardio fitness and endurance to effectively conduct lengthy, physically-intense operations with relatively little sleep/rest.
And that, when you cut out all of the BS, is the entire purpose of the PT program: combat effectiveness....

I hated that Sh-t! But it kept my pulse rate low for that slow trigger pull. One Shot One Kill. Hoorah

2.5 if you choose to walk fast//one foot on ground at all times //no jogging
.

evidently you were never in combat

Yes its called Combat DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ladies and Gentlemen it is about overall conditioning. I never in 22yrs. actually done any event from PT for as many reps. cycles or distance that we trained for. I is all about overall conditioning both mental and Physical, When I first got in we done the inverted crawl it was a part of the PT Test once it was no longer in the PT Test I never done it again.