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No new PFT in the works

Within six months, a proposed new physical fitness manual could be approved and made operational Army-wide. It would institutionalize workout routines aimed at getting soldiers in better condition for the jobs they do and the physical challenges of the battlefield.

But Army leaders are mum on the possibility of updating the Army Physical Fitness Test to more closely match the new drills contained in the draft of the proposed PT manual.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, commanding general of the U.S. Army Accessions Command, would not touch the topic of the APFT.

“I’m not going to discuss that right now because if you want to get the Army spun up, talk about a new uniform, a new rifle or a new PT test,” he said.

He spoke highly of the draft PT manual’s focus on training for strength, endurance and mobility. As an example of its merits, he described his son’s experience at the Basic Officer Leaders Course, where he and his team carried a patient on a litter (with his rucksack on top) and lugged several full 5-gallon water cans on a three-mile march.

“It was the cadre showing them that there are going to have to be more than just push-ups, sit-ups and a run, and that’s what we’re moving towards, warrior tasks and battle drills, expeditionary Army-centric PT,” Freakley said.

The current PT test has been an Army staple since 1980 and consists of two minutes each of push-ups and sit-ups, and a two-mile run.

The test is administered twice a year and those who fail any portion of it are flagged and have 90 days to pass it or face career consequences, including possible holds on promotions and even involuntary separation.

A basic training battalion commander at Fort Jackson, S.C., speculated that adopting a new PT test — a highly sensitive subject in Army culture — will require bold leaderhip.

“We’ve changed a lot in the last five years,” said Lt. Col. Dave Snodgrass, commander of 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry. “Even though we have a natural resistance to change, we change when we have to.”

Freakly said for now, he is focused on Army-wide understanding of the contents of the new manual and “how good this PT philosophy is.”