Angela Papple Johnston - ACFT For Dummies

MDL: You have to lift a minimum of 140 pounds, which nets you a score of 60 points. Head to the earlier section “ 3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift” for details on this event.

SDC: Every permanently profiled soldier has to complete the SDC in under three minutes (that’s the 60-point score again). You can read about the SDC in the earlier section “ Sprint-Drag-Carry.”

An aerobic event: Depending on your profile, you may be required to participate in a 5,000-meter row, 12,000-meter bike, or a 1,000-meter swim with a minimum time of 25 minutes for each. I cover these events in the following sections.

You still take the ACFT MOD with your unit, but you’re the last in line for each event, and you take only the events your profile allows. You begin your alternate events 10 minutes after you complete your last standard event (unless you’re taking the swim event, in which case you leave right away for the pool). Unlike the other ACFT events, the test supervisor reads instructions before each of these events.

The ACFT MOD is only available to soldiers who are on permanent profiles. If you have a temporary profile, the Army expects you to recondition, retrain, and pass the full six-event ACFT.

The ACFT MOD may change over time, too. The Army is serious when it says that the rules governing this test are “living documents.”

Call your grader over when you’re getting close to the end of your required distance on the bike or row event. He or she has to watch your odometer and clock the exact moment you cross the “finish line” to record your point score.

The bike event requires a stationary bike with an adjustable seat and handlebars so it can accommodate soldiers of different heights. The bike has to be equipped with an odometer and a stationary cycle ergometer.

You get a short warm-up period and time to adjust the seat and handlebars. Then, on the command of “Get set,” grab your handlebars and get ready for the “Go” command. Your time starts on the “Go” command, and your test timer calls out the time remaining every 30 seconds during the last two minutes of allowable time and every second during the last ten seconds. You must cover 12,000 meters within 25 minutes. You must continue cycling until you reach the 12,000-meter distance, regardless of the time.

If you’re participating in the row event, your unit has to provide you with a stationary rowing machine. It must have mechanically adjustable resistance, and the seat, handles, and foot straps have to be adjustable, too. The rowing machine must be equipped with an odometer, and it has to be calibrated before the test.

You get a short warm-up period and some time to adjust the machine to your body size and adjust resistance. On the command of “Get set,” position yourself comfortably. The clock begins when your grader says “Go.” Like the bike event, your grader calls out the remaining time every 30 seconds during the last two minutes of the test and every second during the last ten seconds. You have 25 minutes to complete 5,000 meters. You must continue rowing until you reach 5,000 meters, regardless of the time.

The swim event has to take place in a pool with a 25-meter lane and a minimum depth of 1 meter. This one requires a lot of personnel: You need an event supervisor, one scorer for every three soldiers, a timer and a backup timer, and support personnel who are there to ensure safety. The event supervisor can’t be a scorer, either.

You get some time to acclimate to the pool’s temperature and warm up, but when you hear the command “Get set,” you have to position yourself in the pool holding the wall, with your body in contact with the wall — that’s the start position for this event. On the command of “Go,” you can start swimming. You can use any stroke you want (including a combination of strokes). At the end of each 25-meter lap, you have to touch the pool’s wall as you turn around.

You have 25 minutes to swim 1,000 meters, which in a 25-meter lane is 40 laps. Your scorer is supposed to watch you and count your laps, but counting them yourself doesn’t hurt. During the event, you can walk on the bottom of the pool to recuperate if you need to.

You don’t have to wear your Army Physical Fitness Uniform during this alternate event. You can wear civilian swimming attire (read: your favorite trunks or bathing suit), swimming goggles, and a swim cap if you want to. Just make sure you’re sporting something that would be appropriate for you to wear in front of your sergeant major.

Chapter 3

IN THIS CHAPTER

Figuring out the test’s (very specific) timeline

Completing required reading

Discovering Army-mandated equipment

Seeing the test through a grader’s eyes

You used to be able to show up to a PT test knowing that all you had to do was a handful of push-ups, sit-ups, and a two-mile run — and that you’d probably pass. The ACFT isn’t like that, though. Instead, it’s a challenging, six-event test that pushes your body to its limits to evaluate every possible aspect of physical fitness the Army cares about. The Army wants to know about your muscular strength and endurance, your cardiovascular fitness, your ability to perform anaerobic exercises with short bursts of power, and your balance and flexibility.

The Army has testing down to a science. So much so, in fact, that it even requires to-the-minute precision during the test. It also requires soldiers to do a little homework before the test (in addition to physical training), and it requires its graders to complete special training.

Like everything else in the Army, the ACFT is heavily regulated. FM 7-22, Holistic Health and Fitness and ATC 7-22.02, Holistic Health and Fitness Drills and Exercises, have plenty of exercise prescriptions for soldiers, and the Center for Army Lessons Learned consistently pushes out new material related to the test.

Some parts of those regulations are dedicated to timing the test. The Army requires its units to complete an entire ACFT — regardless of the number of soldier taking the test — within 120 minutes. Those two hours include the warm-up drill, the practice time for the 3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift, and all the other events.

The time standard applies across the board, too, even for soldiers taking a modified ACFT. In order to pass, everyone has to finish his or her Two-Mile Run (2MR) before the time expires; the Army’s 120-minute clock starts with the Preparation Drill and ends at the 21-minute mark during the 2MR or 25-minute mark for the completion of ACFT MOD events. (Not coincidentally, 21 minutes is the longest any soldier has to complete the run. If you cross the finish line after 21 minutes have elapsed, you don’t get the 60 required points to pass for the moderate physical demand category.)