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Army Fitness Shift
1. 10/31/17, 10(50 AMThe Armyʼs Radical Fitness Shift - WSJ
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-armys-radical-fitness-shift-1509377795
Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
The U.S. Army’s physical-fitness test could get more physical soon.
A proposed overhaul of the Army’s decades-old test includes a barbell lift, a
sprint with 40-pound kettlebells and a brutal new style of push-up. The test
would be a dramatic shift for the Army, a longtime bellwether of civilian health
and fitness. The exercises in the proposed test are more challenging but the
Army hasn’t yet set the passing standards.
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The proposed six-event test known as the Army Combat Readiness Test, or
ACRT, aims to encourage more practical physical training and prevent injury in
a force frequently deployed around the world. It also reflects a U.S. military
where all combat jobs are now open to women: The proposed test would have
one set of passing standards, with no adjustments for age or gender.
“When you look at fitness, we’re having some challenges right now,” says Maj.
Gen. Malcolm Frost, commanding general of the U.S. Army Center for Initial
FITNESS
The Army’s Radical Fitness Shift
The Army Combat Readiness Test would change how the military measures soldiers, with no adjustments
for age or gender
Oct. 30, 2017 11:36 a.m. ET
By Rachel Bachman
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Military Training. Tens of thousands of soldiers aren’t deployable because of
injuries, many caused by poor physical fitness, Army leaders say.
The current test—timed push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run—has existed since
1980, when aerobic exercise was booming and many Cold War-era leaders
thought ground combat was obsolete. The proposed test is 80% predictive of
whether a soldier can complete tasks necessary for combat, Army officials say.
The existing test, which soldiers take twice yearly, is about 40% predictive.
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Photos: Rewriting the Army’s Test
Scenes from Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, where the Army is
experimenting with a new fitness test for soldiers
The Army is pilot-testing a new physical-fitness test to replace the one in use since 1980. The
proposed Army Combat Readiness Test has six events, as photographed during a recent pilot
test at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (One of the events has three elements.) The Army hasn’t
released passing standards for the test. WHITNEY CURTIS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
• • • • •
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On a recent day at Fort Leonard Wood, several dozen soldiers assembled for a
pilot test, one of a series held at Army bases. As early-morning darkness
surrounded a lighted field, soldiers formed lines behind a row of barbells loaded
with weights ascending from 125 pounds to 425 pounds. Each soldier picked a
weight and performed three dead lifts.
The second event was a reverse throw of a 10-pound ball, measured for distance.
The seemingly awkward motion serves a purpose: It mimics a boosting move
that’s “exactly how we get people into buildings,” says Col. Dale Snider. The 49-
year-old has been deployed four times to combat zones.
The proposed new push-up requires lowering all the way to the ground and
extending one’s arms in a T between repetitions. The T push-up is easier to
monitor in testing, Army leaders say. Col. Snider says he managed 50 T push-ups
in two minutes “and I was completely destroyed.” He had done 84 regular push-
ups while taking the Army’s current fitness test a few weeks earlier, he says.
The 250-meter shuttle event requires alternately sprinting, dragging a 90-pound
sled and carrying two 40-pound kettlebells. Staff Sgt. Kyle Place, one of many
drill sergeants taking the pilot test, says he felt like a baby giraffe after the sled
pull. “I definitely wasn’t anticipating that level of muscle fatigue,” he says.
The leg tuck, the fifth event in the proposed test, requires lifting knees or thighs
to elbows while hanging from a pull-up bar. Some soldiers struggled to do more
Sgt. First Class Daniel McClelland demonstrates a T push-up used in the proposed ACRT. PHOTO: WHITNEY
CURTIS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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than a handful of reps.
The proposed test ends with a timed two-mile run, the only event identical to
one in the current test.
Staff Sgt. Jenna McKinney, who took the recent pilot test, says events like the
sled pull would make the proposed test an easier sell than the current test to
soldiers under her command.
“It’s nice to be able to tell them: Imagine carrying your battle buddy
downrange,” she says, using the Army term for being deployed overseas.
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About 182,000 soldiers are serving in domestic operations or in more than 100
countries world-wide, including the 16-year conflict in Afghanistan, Army
officials say.
A universal testing standard will help legitimize women’s position in combat,
Staff Sgt. McKinney says. All U.S. military jobs were opened to women in 2015.
“There is no difference in the modern battlefield on age or gender,” says Michael
McGurk, director of research and analysis for the U.S. Army Center for Initial
Soldiers warm up before a mid-October pilot of the Army Combat Readiness Test. PHOTO: WHITNEY CURTIS
FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Military Training. “A mountain is the same height for everybody.”
He compared scores from the proposed fitness test to an academic class. D is a
passing grade, but students need higher marks for scholarships or promotions. A
gender-neutral fitness screening test for Army recruits that launched earlier
this year hasn’t changed the share of women enlisting, Mr. McGurk says.
Jim Peterson, a former professor of physical education at the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point, says the test could discriminate against women and
cause injuries to male and female soldiers. Dr. Peterson also says the dead lift is a
particularly risky exercise if not performed correctly.
“The argument against it is so compelling, versus the very limited argument for
it,” he says.
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Mr. McGurk says there have been no reported injuries among the 1,000 soldiers
who’ve participated in pilot testing and that all would receive training in proper
technique before taking the test.
Change could come as soon as 2018. If adopted, the ACRT would complement or
replace the current fitness test in the next few years. The proposed test is part of
a move toward a more comprehensive approach to training and maintaining the
Army’s 1 million soldiers. It comes amid high demands on the Army world-wide,
a shrinking pool of people eligible for military service and a shift in the civilian
fitness industry toward free-weight and functional training.
About 17% of Army soldiers are classified as obese, according to a 2016 Army
report. That’s half the rate among U.S. adults overall, but up from 13% a year
earlier.
The Army is working on installing training centers stocked with relevant
exercise equipment and staffed with experts in fitness, nutrition and
performance, Maj. Gen. Frost says. The goal is to prepare and maintain soldiers’
bodies as systematically as the Army does its Humvees and helicopters.
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“You might say, ‘Why haven’t you done that before?’ ” Maj. Gen. Frost says.
“Because we know a lot more about health and fitness. We’ve learned a lot, so we
kind of need to rethink this holistically.”
Write to Rachel Bachman at Rachel.Bachman@wsj.com
Appeared in the October 31, 2017, print edition.
THE SAME STANDARD FOR MEN AND WOMEN
One radical element of the proposed Army Combat Readiness Test is the
plan to eliminate separate standards based on age and gender. All soldiers
would have the same standards, which have yet to be determined.
To pass the current test, soldiers must score 60 points in each of three
categories: push-ups, sit-ups and a timed two-mile run. The test awards
points on a sliding scale based on a soldier’s age and gender (except in sit-
ups, where the male and female standards are identical). For instance, a 22-
to 26-year-old man must do 40 push-ups in two minutes to pass that event. A
22- to 26-year-old woman can pass with 17 push-ups.
The 2015 announcement that the U.S. military would open all combat
positions to women was one influence for the plan to have a universal set of
standards, says Michael McGurk, director of research and analysis for the
U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training.
But having one testing standard for everyone could discriminate against
female soldiers and hinder their promotion, says Jim Peterson, a former
professor of physical education at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
“At West Point, our goal was never to get men and women to do the same
number of push-ups,” Dr. Peterson says. “The goal was to get men and
women to exert the same effort.”
Mr. McGurk noted that women’s scores on the current fitness test have risen
since its inception, and that the Army hasn’t decided how or whether the
proposed test results would be used in promotion.
Staff Sgt. Rebecca Alvarez, a 30-year-old drill sergeant, participated in a
recent pilot of the proposed test at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. She found
parts of it difficult, but says she’s confident women will pass the test if they
train. “I should be able to pull my weight, just like they should be able to pull
their weight,” she says of male soldiers.
