The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT): Our Thoughts

The ACFT has been a hot topic since the day it was announced. Even now, after a few years, myths and misconceptions persist. We've seen a lot of these in our comments and messages, and we thought it was time to address a few.

In this episode we break down a little bit of the history behind how the test was developed, the reasoning behind a few of the events, and the validity (or lack thereof) of some of the common criticisms of the test.

Here are some of the references mentioned, if you want to dive deeper:

"Prediction of simulated battlefield physical performance from field-expedient tests" (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18251329/ )

Pilot testing of two proposed alternative fitness tests, the APRT and the ACRT (https://www.army.mil/article/55446/new-army-pt-tests-army-physical-readiness-test-army-combat-readiness-test/)

"Correlations between Physical Fitness Tests and Performance of Military Tasks: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA607688.pdf )

"Development of a New Army Standardized Physical Readiness Test" (https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD1011066.pdf )

Final report of the BSPRRS study published (https://www.iadlest.org/Portals/0/AD1097586%20Baseline%20Soldier%20Physical%20Readiness%20Requirements%20Study.pdf )

Our episode with Dr. East, who was involved in much of the work linked above: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vjeGEOqUwnkokRrSrgJKL