Should there be one APFT standard for all services ?

Now we are working with other services with joint operations and the number of installations becoming Joint bases, it makes sense to have a standard PT Test for all services. PT is not only exercising. It is also comradre

SSG Williams - we don't have a common uniform, a common records brief, common promotion system, etc - there is very little that actually spans across all services.

A common Physical Assessment is a long way off.

Now, I will agree that doing Physical Training with other units/services does foster relationship building and I am all for that. I have one of my units that conducts Physical Training with the Air Force occasionally since we operate on an Air Base.

I believe that a common PT test for all branches would not be difficult to accomplish. I do think though that it really depends on the MOS. For example Infantrymen should have a higher expectation for PT scores compared to say a Cook. Also due to environmental reasons Navy should have a different expectation from the Army because the Navy works in a different environment from the Army. So even though it would be possible to have a common equal PT requirement in all branches I believe how it is set up now is acceptable

I agree with SPC Timothy Carruthers. Would a standard set for am Air Force engine mechanic be appropriate for a Marine artilleryman? I can't speak for the other services, but when I was in we had a standard PT requirement for ALL MARINES, be it cook or infantry. I don't believe that a standardized PT requirement for all services would work. I standardized PT test would if each branch was allowed to set a minimum passing criterion for their branch. Should an Air Force cook in Kansas be required to meet the same standard as a Army/Marine infantryman in Afghanistan?

Agree SGM Matthew Quick the Marines would never agree to cutting down their standard test to Army standards.

Those pull-ups and 3-mile can break many off, CMDCM Gene Treants!

SGM Matthew Quick I have no doubt of that. One of the reasons I retired at 30 was the PT was getting difficult. And one of the reasons I joined the Navy was sleeping in a bed almost every night and mostly hot meals. (Okay - call me a wuss!)

Different APFT standards and exercises for different MOS's within one service would make more sense than trying to standardize one test for all jobs in all services. Does it really make sense that the APFT for an Infantryman is the same as the APFT for a guy who sits at a desk working on a computer every day? It's either too easy for one, or unnecessarily hard for the other, or both.

Physical readiness training is a mandatory training requirement because it is -

- Considered by senior leaders to be essential to individual, unit, and force readiness
- Required by law for all individuals and units