The High Ground: Portly soldiers beware, a new PT test is coming
Soldiers may need to spend a few extra minutes at a gym over the next two years as the Army prepares to roll out the first remake of the service’s physical fitness test in 40 years.
This month, the Army announced that starting Oct. 1, 2020, its soldiers will face a grueling six-part challenge to prove they are fit enough to wear the uniform. The test replaces a three-part physical fitness test that has been around since President Jimmy Carter’s administration
“The Army Combat Fitness Test will ignite a generational, cultural change in Army fitness and become a cornerstone of individual soldier combat readiness,” Army Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost said in a statement announcing the change. “It will reduce attrition and it will reduce musculoskeletal injuries and actually save, in the long run, the Army a heck of a lot of money.”
The new test comes as the Army works to drum out troops who are physically limited from serving in combat overseas.
The only part of the old test that’s sticking around is the notorious 2-mile run. The five new challenges include a standing dead lift and “hand-release pushups.”
Also coming is a portion that’s sure to top the list of complaints for soldiers everywhere. The new “leg tuck test” requires soldiers to “lift their legs up and down to touch their knees/thighs to their elbows as many times as they can,” the Army said.
Portly sergeants don’t have to sweat yet. The service said it will roll out the new test with training aimed at slimming down those who would struggle with the challenges.
Spc. Efren Gandara performs leg tucks during a pilot for the Army Combat Fitness Test, a six-event assessment designed to reduce injuries and replace the current Army Physical Fitness Test.
Focus on Korean vets
With the anniversary of the end of the Korean War coming up on July 27, the U.S. Census Bureau released a snapshot of what time has done to the ranks of veterans who fought there. In the 65 years since the war ended in 1953, the number of living veterans from the conflict has dropped from 6 million to 1.7 million. That compares to the 800,000 surviving veterans of World War II.
If you want to meet some Korean War veterans, you’ll have your chance Saturday in Memorial Park. The local chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association will gather to mark the anniversary of the war’s end at 10:30 a.m. near the war memorial in the park off Union Boulevard.
Soldiers conduct a 2-mile run as part of a pilot for the Army Combat Fitness Test, a six-event assessment designed to reduce injuries and replace the current Army Physical Fitness Test.
SPEAKING OF VETERANS
Making honorably discharged veterans eligible for online shopping paid dividends last year for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. The exchange service, a military department store chain that serves troops around the globe, invited veteran online shopping last year. It had been limited to troops and retirees.
The move boosted the exchange services bottom line by $300 million to $8.6 billion for 2017.
The exchange service funnels profit into quality of life programs on bases and the 2017 bonanza yielded $219 million to the cause, the agency said in a news release.
Keep up to date on military news at gazettedev.gazette.com/military. Have a tip? Email tom.roeder@gazettedev.gazette.com.
Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240
Twitter: @xroederx
