APFU
APFU
Posted on Apr 9, 2014
APFU Pants: Why do I have to take them off when it's between 35-50° F?
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This has always been a pet peeve of mine. We form up in full Winter APFUs because it's friggin cold outside, and the 1SG tells us to take our pants off. WHY? It's COLD!
Am I the only person in the military who gets cold when my legs are exposed to cold air and wind? We usually just stand there waiting for who knows what to start the formation usually after it was supposed to begin. I once had to take an APFT at Ft. Huachuca while it was 30° with a really cold wind. We had to take off our pants for that one. Too cold. Way too cold. Am I just bitching? Is this because I am a Floridian?
All I really want to know is why do senior NCOs make this call? Can't we take the pants off when we actually start PT?
Am I the only person in the military who gets cold when my legs are exposed to cold air and wind? We usually just stand there waiting for who knows what to start the formation usually after it was supposed to begin. I once had to take an APFT at Ft. Huachuca while it was 30° with a really cold wind. We had to take off our pants for that one. Too cold. Way too cold. Am I just bitching? Is this because I am a Floridian?
All I really want to know is why do senior NCOs make this call? Can't we take the pants off when we actually start PT?
APFU
Physical Training
Formation
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 117
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Now that I am retired one of the things I like to do is step out onto my deck in the winter wearing shorts and T-shirt just so I can turn right around and go back in where it is warm.
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SFC Rich Combs
Up here in AK it's still 20F in the morning but I still going outside with just a pair of shorts......and then get right in my hot tub! :-)
Did the same at Ft Huachuca :-)
Did the same at Ft Huachuca :-)
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<p>Well Chief there are two issues here. As for the PT test it is up to each individual Soldier what they wear while doing the PT test minus when doing push ups. Each SM will remove the jacket while conducting push ups so that the arms can be seen to ensure they are fully extending.</p><p> </p><p>The second I have came to the conclusion (coming from 13 years in combat arms) the 1SGs have been through a great deal of physical stress and their bodies are broken down. If they run with no pants on when it is cold, then the cold air directly on their old knees keeps them numb!! That is the only logical explanation that I have been able to come up with.</p>
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SSG Dale London
I agree Top -- although I also think it has something to do with First Shirts believing that if they are miserable, then everybody ought to be miserable.
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First, I want to applaud you. I haven't seen a Warrant Officer PT in about 3 years. Second, I think the strategy is to try an acclimate you to the cold weather. If you wear full winters now. When it actually drops more you will end up wearing even more. Which can drastically effect how your body handles the cold in general. The Idea to help soldiers stay healthy. If they don't acclimate they will suffer down the line, especially when going out ot the field. Although some will suffer, it's actually better for the unit.
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SSG (Join to see)
We ran PT in starched cotton fatigues and combat boots and people are complaining about now
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PO1 Kevin Dougherty
They have this wonderful concept in the civilian world, it's called layering. You put on multiple thin layers of warm, moisture wicking, non-cotton (cotton kills) clothes, adding or removing as needed to maintain a comfortable, temperature yet avoid sweating. I lived many years in the Adirondacks, worked in the woods, cross country skied, snowshoed, camped and was a founding member and training officer of a wilderness search and rescue team. We always layered up, and never, ever, ever wore cotton.
Any amount of acclimatization will not stave off frostbite or hypothermia, attempts to do so will only make you physiologically more vulnerable to injury due to cold muscles, and in the temperatures described, may in fact lead to hypothermia very quickly.
Any amount of acclimatization will not stave off frostbite or hypothermia, attempts to do so will only make you physiologically more vulnerable to injury due to cold muscles, and in the temperatures described, may in fact lead to hypothermia very quickly.
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SPC Robin Price-Dirks
I really hated getting my uniform reduced to t-shirts and pants in cold weather, didn't mind the boots though. It wasn't until I got out and got a competent doctor that my low body temp (96.0) and extremely low BP (80 over 30 at times) was diagnosed as low thyroid. I had hypothermia more than once in the ARMY and no amount of "acclimatization" helped. Sometimes guys need to think of others in the formation, not that it would have helped me. My teeth would chatter at 50 degrees sometimes, but it would have helped to split the unit into 2 groups. The polar bears and the hairless cats....ya know.
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