Army's new fitness tests add taste of battlefield

[Danno 1,228]

Army's new fitness tests add taste of battlefield

FORT JACKSON, S.C. – Sit-ups don't make a soldier, the Army has decided. So its 30-year-old fitness requirements are getting a battlefield-inspired makeover.

Soon every soldier will have to run on a balance beam with two 30-pound canisters of ammunition, drag a sled weighted with 180 pounds of sandbags and vault over obstacles while carrying a rifle. Those were just some of the tests the Army unveiled Tuesday as it moves toward making its physical training look more like combat.

Right now soldiers have to complete sit-ups, push-ups and a two-mile run twice a year within times that vary by age and gender. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, the general in charge of the Army's initial military training, said he has been working to change that test for years.

Hertling said the current test "does not adequately measure components of strength, endurance, or mobility," or predict how well a soldier would do under fire.

A new annual "combat readiness" test includes running 400 meters — about a quarter of a mile — with a rifle, moving through an obstacle course in full combat gear, and crawling and vaulting over obstacles while aiming a rifle. Soldiers also will have to run on a balance beam while carrying 30-pound ammo boxes and do an agility sprint around a course field of cones.

Soldiers also will have to drag sleds weighted with sandbags to test their ability to pull a fallen comrade from the battlefield. The combat test might be given before deployments as well as annually, but that has not been decided.

The Army will keep elements of its old assessment in a "physical readiness" test, which adds such things as a 60-yard shuttle run and a standing long jump to one minute of push-ups and a 1.5-mile timed run. This might be given every six months, said Frank Palkoska, head of the Army's Fitness School at Fort Jackson.

Hertling said trials of the new program are starting this month at eight bases and the plan could be adopted Army-wide after reviews later this year.

Soldiers who ran the proposed "combat readiness" portion of the test Tuesday told reporters the exercises were tough, even for combat veterans.

Wearing a battle helmet and carrying a rifle, Staff Sgt. Timothy Shoenfelt teetered as he trod the balance beam, holding ammo tins in each hand. His pace slowed a bit as he dragged the green sled behind him, then held his M-4 steady as he strode sideways through the "point-move-aim" portion of the test.

"My quads are on fire!" the 31-year-old from Indiana, Pa., said afterward. "It really made me breathe hard and challenged a lot of muscle groups."

Wheeled vehicle mechanic and Sgt. 1st Class Cornelius Trammell, 33, of Eufaula, Ala., said it will be important for all soldiers to go through tests, even if their jobs are behind desks. He laughed when reporters commented on his sweaty face.

"You never know when you might need it, whether you are in the infantry or if you're a mechanic," said Trammell, who's been deployed three times.

The tests will be given to all soldiers and officers, including Army Reserves and National Guard, even those recalled soldiers who are now over 60, officials said. Specific gender and age standards are still being worked out, Palkoska said.

The shift follows other Army efforts to overhaul training, improve diets and help older soldiers keep fit. Hertling said the Army is trying to better prepare soldiers for the 40 to 70 pounds of weapons and body armor many of them need to carry in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Soldiers like to be challenged. This will definitely challenge them," Hertling said.

The Army also is hoping to reduce injuries — both in the field and from repetitive exercises.

"This is about training smarter, not just training more," Hertling said.

Staff Sgt. Danica Foster, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who pumped through a shuttle run and did push-ups for the "physical readiness" section, said the new tests will require soldiers to work on their upper body strength. Female soldiers will have to work to get them done, she said.

"I honestly believe, though, that if I can do this, anybody can," she said with a laugh.

Besides Fort Jackson, the program will be tested at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; and at the Army's military academy at West Point.

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Specific gender and age standards are still being worked out, Palkoska said.

Gender and age, and yet you focus on gender (only) in your subtitle.

Why?

[Danno 1,228]

Gender and age, and yet you focus on gender (only) in your subtitle.

Why?

Sexist.... of course.

[Ban Hammer 13,654]

i still like the british concept of a timed road march.

[Danno 1,228]

i still like the british concept of a timed road march.

ONe thing I like about this new test is it's based not so much on the soldier as the reality such as, dragging the weight and carrying ammo cans.

If a little skinny guy can do X number of pull-ups that's nice but he might still be not strong enough to hump gear.

Of course females will get a pass in this regard.... and as long as their job assignment reflects their capacity, thats fine... but anyone who has humped other peoples gear know exactly what I am talking about.

[^_^ 5,021]

Of course females will get a pass ...

From the article:

Specific gender and age standards are still being worked out, Palkoska said.

[peejay 327]

Of course females will get a pass in this regard.... and as long as their job assignment reflects their capacity, thats fine... but anyone who has humped other peoples gear know exactly what I am talking about.

I went on a job interview at the Shell Offshore training center in Robert, LA. This was for a job in the offshore oil field as an offshore oil field worker. Of course Shell had to vet females for the job. Unfortunately a good portion of them couldn't pass the physical tests given to the men...so they got to do theirs' in private away from the male applicants even though all the other testing was done as a group. I wonder why?

My brother works for ATT and he has a female or two in his department in the same position he has. They are exempted from doing jobs they can't physically hack. As my brother sez, "What the ** are they doing here if they can't do the work"? They get the job, but are given a pass on doing the required work.

Yea....talk about humping someone elses' gear. Guess who has to take up the slack? I'll give you 3 guesses and the first two don't count.

[Danno 1,228]

From the article:

Specific gender and age standards are still being worked out, Palkoska said.

So if I read this correct, men who are old-timers will have a less demanding test and women who are old-timers will have a doubly.. less demanding test?

Actually the Test for Old-timers probably isn't all that important anyway, by the time you are 45, you are not humping gear all that much anyway.

Although I do recall seeing a guy once in a dress uniform with 4 hash marks on his sleeve and he was like a PFC or a lance Cpl.... would have loved to know what he did to get busted down like that.

[웃 910]

Although I do recall seeing a guy once in a dress uniform with 4 hash marks on his sleeve and he was like a PFC or a lance Cpl.... would have loved to know what he did to get busted down like that.

I went to a different kind of boot camp but it was ran by mostly ex-marines. The real psychotic kinds (or at least they were great actors). The main guy was in the special forces and worked the night shift. I remember him telling us that 8 hours of sleep was way too much and that 4 to 5 hours a night was more than enough (I disagree).

Anyways, some of the punishments in there were hilarious.

One guy was brushing his teeth outside of the 'head' and the drill instructors had him carry a 12 foot log that they attached a large brush to the end of. They painted the words "My Toothbrush" on the log and he had to carry it around for a few days.

If you fell asleep during class you'd have to get your mattress and carry it above your head at all times and you'd have to stand up at all times throughout the day even when the rest of the platoon got to sit (which was rare). I was seriously dying to fall asleep all day and I would venture a guess that our entire platoon was completely knocked out within 12 seconds of the lights being cut out.

I was good in there but my worst punishment was having to do push-ups with my boots on the upper bunk and hands on the floor. I was left in that position for a good 15 to 30 minutes.

One of the drill instructors said he was tempted to kill one of the guys in our squad and drop him off in a swamp and then make a report that the guy escaped, lol.

When I went back to visit in 2003 another one of the DIs said his neighbor was stealing things from his garden. He said he knew how to kill her and not get caught. He would simply dig a hole more than 100 feet deep where the dogs sense of smell is disabled. And when his neighbor was stealing from his garden he would shoot a bow-and-arrow from long-distance and bury him/her in the >100 ft. hole.

Just thought I'd share a couple of stories.

[^_^ 5,021]

From the article:

Specific gender and age standards are still being worked out, Palkoska said.

So if I read this correct, men who are old-timers will have a less demanding test and women who are old-timers will have a doubly.. less demanding test?

You didn't read it correct.

Here's the sentence again:

Specific gender and age standards are still being worked out, Palkoska said.