As the Army turns to functional fitness testing, is the end of gender standards near?

Agreed sir!

I have long believed that the standards should be MOS based without regard to gender. I am open to the idea of scaling based upon rank, because a Div. Commander and a 1LT have different jobs, even if they are both 11A, and this type of scaling can help us retain quality leaders as they age.

Infantrymen have a different task than Intel analysts, and the standards should reflect that. The Army needs both, and disallowing someone to enlist who could be a major asset in the field of Cryptolinguistics because they can't do 100 push-ups is silly.

MAJ (Join to see) ,

I don't disagree with you that the Army need to approach is a smart way. Now, the Army should have an APFT that is closer in measuring abilities to do basic WTBD or soldier skill level 1 task.

A linguist or cyber soldier does not need to ruck with a 90lb ruck for 12 miles or run 6 miles everyday. What the Army needs to do us actually have PT programs that goes in hand with the Unit METL. This is where Commanders ane SNCOs fail to do.

MSG (Join to see) - The issue is what happens when a Soldier only performs the minimum standards, sure they pass level 1 tasks but fail miserable at any specific MOS tasks, as a commander you can't do much regardless of how poor they perform other than prevent early promotions for lower enlisted, and for NCO's you can give them less than stellar evaluations. (they pass the standard so you can't flag or punish them in any way) We need a higher standard for combat arms you do that by raising the standards for that MOS. The service support units simply don't have the time available to train that hard or that often. But better someone who has passed basic training and holds a minimum military bearing than someone with no military background and no ability to fight like a Soldier at either the personal or legal levels.

It never pays to lower standards for anything. You get a lessor product as a result. All Military should meet the same standards except the Rangers andSpecial Forces of all types . These have higher requirements for a reason which should never be lowered for any reason. If you can’t make the grade, move on to regular forces. Other wise, meet standard requirements for service!

All soldiers should always be able to shoot, move and communicate. You should always be able to defend and attack no matter your MOS!MSG (Join to see)