New US Army Fitness Test
"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."
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_army_new_fitness_test
I'm curious what people with military experience think of the change.
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."
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_army_new_fitness_test
I'm curious what people with military experience think of the change.
Comments
I still say, if anyone thinks they are more of a man than another; RIP is for you.
I blew through basic, and OSU like butter. RIP CRUSHED ME. I feel like a hero just for making it OUT of that shit. Drop out rate is around 40% I think, and most are current soldiers/generally marines. I went in to that shit virgin, straight out of airborne school. Airborne was a cake walk, RIP was fucking awful. It sucked a lot of dick, but at least I was one of a few elite. (PS. Marines are just body bags)
As a Ranger you will learn to live and kill with 6 hours of sleep a week. Oh and march about 342354365 miles. Rangers are probably the best at marching ever. Walk 50 miles, get called off, and then walk another 150 back to the DZ. We got a few good missions, but a lot of getting called off and walking 20-50 miles to get a pick up.
How nice to have a civilian making the first reply to this thread.
People are confused about fittness - it is not how fast you can run the 100 or the marothon, but how far you can go without giving in. For your bog standard basic training, it is hard to replicate - although it is part of advanced training in most infantry units in the UK to expose troops to long periods of hard pysical work - more so in specialised units - for instance UK marine and para basic training is pretty tough, but moutain leader / pathfinder training is hard core.
Have to add, I am a civilian, but have been trained in the use of GPMG, SA80 and bowman radio set and plenty of shit on extended ops - and no, it was not in the cadets or as a reserve (or as a 'spy'). Did quite a bit of training with the army, but not in the army. Fun times.
It's called Endurance. It' essential to any combat trooper. As you said, speed isn't the ultimate goal. Enduring that pace for weeks on end, is. Once you get in Airborne, Ranger, Recon etc. troops, it's much more important to do it twice as fast, eight times as long, and still be clear headed enough to engage the target when you've been without food and sleep for a week.
As I've touted in multiple threads here. If you want to be an Elite trooper, RIP is where it's at in American Military. That shit brings hardened Marines to their knees, and crushes all but those who are in top physical condition, and able to deal with prolonged periods without sleep and food.