Posted on Oct 7, 2016
Airmen Failed Fitness Tests Due to Wrong Track Distances
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The Air Force says dozens of airmen have failed physical training tests in recent years due to inaccurate track distances.
All bases should measure their running tracks by Oct. 31 to prevent false test scores, the service announced on Thursday.
If bases determine the tracks are the wrong length, airmen's scores will be adjusted accordingly, Air Force spokeswoman Brooke Brzozowske told Military.com.
Nearly 60 airmen at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, and Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, received inaccurate run scores because of the problem, the service said. The test requires airmen to complete a timed 1.5-mile run or a two-kilometer walk if they are exempt from the run.
Officials at Goodfellow determined the outdoor running course was 85 feet longer than required, which may have caused 18 airmen stationed at the base between 2010 and 2016 to fail the fitness assessment, the announcement said. The track was last measured in 2010.
At Hanscom, the track was found to be 360 feet longer than it should be, likely causing 41 airmen stationed there between 2008 and 2016 to fail. The track was last measured in 2008.
"All airmen who should have passed were notified," Brzozowske said in an email.
"If still on active duty, their fitness scores were adjusted to the correct passing score. If there were any personnel actions taken resulting from the inaccurate [fitness assessment] failures, airmen should work with their chain of command, Force Support Squadron and legal office, and potentially the Air Force Personnel Center to correct records," she wrote.
The service's inspector general also plans to include the PT program "as an Air Force inspection requirement on future wing unit effectiveness inspections," the announcement said.
In addition, each time a base redesigns or modifies a running track, it must measure it as a precaution, it said.
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCPT (Join to see)COL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell
All bases should measure their running tracks by Oct. 31 to prevent false test scores, the service announced on Thursday.
If bases determine the tracks are the wrong length, airmen's scores will be adjusted accordingly, Air Force spokeswoman Brooke Brzozowske told Military.com.
Nearly 60 airmen at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, and Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, received inaccurate run scores because of the problem, the service said. The test requires airmen to complete a timed 1.5-mile run or a two-kilometer walk if they are exempt from the run.
Officials at Goodfellow determined the outdoor running course was 85 feet longer than required, which may have caused 18 airmen stationed at the base between 2010 and 2016 to fail the fitness assessment, the announcement said. The track was last measured in 2010.
At Hanscom, the track was found to be 360 feet longer than it should be, likely causing 41 airmen stationed there between 2008 and 2016 to fail. The track was last measured in 2008.
"All airmen who should have passed were notified," Brzozowske said in an email.
"If still on active duty, their fitness scores were adjusted to the correct passing score. If there were any personnel actions taken resulting from the inaccurate [fitness assessment] failures, airmen should work with their chain of command, Force Support Squadron and legal office, and potentially the Air Force Personnel Center to correct records," she wrote.
The service's inspector general also plans to include the PT program "as an Air Force inspection requirement on future wing unit effectiveness inspections," the announcement said.
In addition, each time a base redesigns or modifies a running track, it must measure it as a precaution, it said.
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCPT (Join to see)COL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell
Airmen Failed Fitness Tests Due to Wrong Track Distances
Posted from military.com
Physical Training
Running
Health
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 9
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Last time I looked, when we do a USMC PFT we ALWAYS measure the course for accuracy as required by the MCO 6100.13 which has been in existence...oh I don't know maybe since the beginning of time.
d. 3.0 Mile Run
(1) This is a timed event and can be conducted either indoors or outdoors.
(2) The run course will be 3.0 miles and must be measured for accuracy and set over reasonably level ground.
In reviewing AIR FORCE INSTRUCTION 36-2905 it states:
3.7.1. The run and walk will be performed on an approved distance course.
However it does not state who measures the course. Really? You all can fly the most advanced flying things in the world but I think someone dropped the ball on this one.
So for 1.5 miles it's 7,920 (according to google)
Assume I am 30 years old so I have 13:36 to meet the minimum. (816 seconds)
7,920 feet divided by 816 seconds is 9.7 feet a second (boy does that sound fast!)
So how time did this add to a PFT score I ask myself....
85 feet added 8.8 seconds to overall time
360 feet added 37 seconds to overall time
Maybe the USAF needs to rewrite there instruction and TASK someone to measure the course...
Course last measures in 2008 and 2010? Where I come from we "trust but Verify"
Hey, all you Senior NCO's in the USAF, go out and borrow a measuring wheel form your friendly MWR or what ever you call it in the USAF and walk your PFT course, you might be surprised...it might be too short. Trust me we make the same mistakes in Marine Corps, it just don't make the news. Ran a PFT course and busted 18:00 for 100% points one time, WTH? I run 22:00 flat on a good day, walked the course with a wheel and it was a HALF MILE SHORT.
Semper Fi my fellow Airmen
d. 3.0 Mile Run
(1) This is a timed event and can be conducted either indoors or outdoors.
(2) The run course will be 3.0 miles and must be measured for accuracy and set over reasonably level ground.
In reviewing AIR FORCE INSTRUCTION 36-2905 it states:
3.7.1. The run and walk will be performed on an approved distance course.
However it does not state who measures the course. Really? You all can fly the most advanced flying things in the world but I think someone dropped the ball on this one.
So for 1.5 miles it's 7,920 (according to google)
Assume I am 30 years old so I have 13:36 to meet the minimum. (816 seconds)
7,920 feet divided by 816 seconds is 9.7 feet a second (boy does that sound fast!)
So how time did this add to a PFT score I ask myself....
85 feet added 8.8 seconds to overall time
360 feet added 37 seconds to overall time
Maybe the USAF needs to rewrite there instruction and TASK someone to measure the course...
Course last measures in 2008 and 2010? Where I come from we "trust but Verify"
Hey, all you Senior NCO's in the USAF, go out and borrow a measuring wheel form your friendly MWR or what ever you call it in the USAF and walk your PFT course, you might be surprised...it might be too short. Trust me we make the same mistakes in Marine Corps, it just don't make the news. Ran a PFT course and busted 18:00 for 100% points one time, WTH? I run 22:00 flat on a good day, walked the course with a wheel and it was a HALF MILE SHORT.
Semper Fi my fellow Airmen
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
This is a guess, but they were likely using a "1/4 mile track" or what they "thought" was a "1/4 mile track" at the local base. If the track was mis-measured several years ago (on construction) by 5-20 yards, those small errors would add up very quickly. 15ft per 1/4 mile = 90ft per 1.5 mile. On a round track, I doubt anyone would have realized it. The 20 yard difference however....
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The Air Force PT test is a joke. If the Air Force wants a real PT test to measure a persons physical fitness try the Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test!
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"The track was last measured in 2010."
How did the track length change in the meantime?
How did the track length change in the meantime?
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