The Army has recently announced that it is moving away from the current Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) that measures the fitness of all Army troops. The APFT consists of three events:
- pushups
- situps
- 2-mile run
The APFT is scheduled to be replaced within the next two years by the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT). The ACFT replaces the APFT with six new events:
- Deadlift
- Power Throw
- Hand Release Pushups
- Sprint-Drag-Carry
- Leg Tuck
- 2-Mile Run
To prepare for the ACFT, Cadets from the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program recently conducted the ACFT in the university’s Fieldhouse.
Deadlift
The first event in the ACFT is the deadlift exercise. For the deadlift the Cadets had to do a three repetition lift of a minimum of 140 pounds.
Power Throw
The second event of the ACFT is the standing power throw. With this event the Cadets had to throw a 10 pound medicine ball as far as they could over their heads. The minimum distance for the power throw is 4.6 meters.
Hand Release Pushups
The third event is the hand release pushup. Unlike the current pushup event in the APFT, the hand release pushup required the Cadets to place their chests on the ground and completely lift their hands off of the ground per every repetition. The minimum requirement for this event is 10 repetitions.
Sprint-Drag-Carry
For this event the Cadets had to sprint 50 meters and then drag a 90 pound tire for 50 meters. They then had to do a 50 meter lateral followed by carrying two 40 pound weights before finishing with a 50 meter sprint. The minimum time to complete the event is 3:35 minutes.
Leg Tuck
The fifth event, the leg tuck, required the Cadets to hang from a pull-up bar and then raise their legs and touch their knees to their elbows. The minimum requirement is 1 leg tuck.
2-Mile Run
The only event in the ACFT that carried over from the APFT is the 2-mile run. Due to the added events in the ACFT, the minimum two mile run time has been decreased to 21 minutes, 7 seconds.
Way Ahead
The Army plans to implement the ACFT within the next two years. Unlike the current APFT, the ACFT will be both age and gender neutral. Instead the test will be scaled by a Soldier’s job. Non-combat MOS’s have the lowest minimum standard while Combat Arms have the highest standards. The grading scale can be seen below:
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The new Army Combat Fitness Test is going to be a major cultural change for the US Army in the next two years which the EWU ROTC program is training its Cadets to lead.
Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!
