Army Retains APFT, Rejects APRT For Now

The science and work behind the Physical Readiness Training manual and the complementary Army Physical Readiness TESTS (one as described as above and a Combat version) spanned well over a decade. All it takes is a leader to get behind something and provide to catalyst for change. That was happening in 2009-2010 throughout TRADOC. We were THIS close to having this test become the new standard. I really believe it was a solid step forward in developing better models and tests for developing and evaluating the Army Soldiers' physical readiness. Now, we continue doing "what always has been done." Not moving forward. Not advancing. Mired and stuck in the mud buried by the random and variegated opinions across the force. Meanwhile, our Warriors will be tested on a 2-mile run, two minutes of pushups and two minutes of situps (not a measure of core strength, just hip flexors and adducters), BUT when they get into to combat they might have to walk 10-30 km with heavy packs on their backs, climb over a courtyard wall while wearing 50-60 pounds of kit, and/or run for short intense bursts over shorter distances. We test them against the apple, while combat will test them with a 100-ton banana. The cynic in me predicted this. Reversion to the mean (which is STASIS in the Army) will occur over the next 5-10 years as we draw down from the CENTCOM perpetual deployment cycle.
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