The Army is in an era when it is shrinking and needs its troops to truly meet the requirements of the best Soldiers.The Army will need both the best physically and mentally trained Soldiers. The question is: Why doesn't Army use the most current resources to make sure Soldiers are truly physically prepared for the battlefield?

Problems with current Army training methods.

Physical Readiness Training or (PRT) trains Soldiers for the lowest standards and fails to prepare Soldiers for combat like situations. An example of a combat situation would be to move their wounded battle buddy from the kill zone to the safe zone. The  (PRT) exercises such as  push-ups will not prepare someone to carry a wounded comrade 100 yards or longer to a landing zone for immediate extract.

Sit-ups are out of date and unnecessarily increasing the strain on the medical services that are already strained.

If a Soldier has to run two miles on the battlefield, something went terribly wrong and the leadership made a decision that probably got everyone killed. So why does leadership insist on doing five-mile runs three times a week? How is this increasing Soldier battle readiness?

What's the solution?

The Army  needs some educating to get caught up with current practices that are being used for preparing the world’s top athletes on the playing field and how they can be used to prepare the top Soldiers for the battlefield.

The best place to begin the overhaul is trimming the fat. The tape measure around the stomach and neck makes no sense. The fatter a person is the better off they are because their neck gets fat making them seem skinnier than their actual body fat percentage is. Body Mass Index can be used to assess who needs to be measured for body fat percentage but can’t be used to chapter a Soldier out because BMI doesn’t make a distinction between muscle and fat.

The current Army Physical Fitness Test is out of date and doesn’t have any crossover value to the battlefield. Since the implementation of the current APFT testing practice the knowledge of exercise physiology and how to actually test the human strength, abilities and endurance has changed. The majority of fitness experts avoid using sit-ups period because of excessive strain on the lower back. The push-up doesn’t provide an accurate measure of how well a Soldier will perform when they need to carry their battle buddy off the battlefield or how well they will perform a ruck march. The two-mile doesn’t stress the relevant energy system in a manner that is realistic to today’s battlefield environment. The two-mile run stresses the aerobic energy system when anaerobic is used just as much if not more with the quick movements over short distances that the Army trains the Soldiers for.

So what should the APFT look like?

Some of the basic tasks that have to be analyzed in a Soldier’s capabilities are to move efficiently and quickly while under fire, and the ability to carry an injured Soldier to safety both under fire and afterward to the landing zone. This can be accomplished by using sprints,  carrying a casualty on the Soldier’s back is actual assessment. The modified APFT would begin with the 100-meter sprint to assess a Soldier’s ability to quickly move on the battlefield. This event would even be done in three- to five-second rushes. The next event would be to test an individual’s ability to carry a litter. This can be tested by having to carry two 60-pound containers at least 100 yards. The next event would be to pick up and carry a 200-pound mannequin 100 yards. The last event to test a Soldier’s stamina and mental fortitude would be the 800 meter sprint.

The reason for the 100-meter sprint first is that will mimic the quick movements over short distances that are required in firefights. The addition of the three- to five-second rush would add an element of upper body strength required to function in movements on the battlefield. The 60-pound carry will make sure that a Soldier can carry litter or any heavy objects for distance that is required. The third event is to make sure that the Soldier has the minimum lower body and core strength required to deep squat an average weight male and the stamina to carry them 100 yards to safety. After this, the last event is one of the hardest from an exercise physiology stand point, the 800-meter sprint. That distance is difficult because it isn’t long enough to allow the aerobic system to fully take over the energy demands and then it’s not short enough that the anaerobic system can produce enough energy to meet the energy output that is required for the distance.

These tests will truly test a Soldier’s strength and endurance capabilities. This fitness test offers an actual assessment of Soldier’s capabilities on the battlefield without the confounding factors that the current APFT does, such as body weight and height differences, and puts everyone on the neutral terms that can be reasonably expected. This test should not have a different grading bracket for males or females. Regardless of gender.

Author:  Spc. Joshua Woodward, medic at Fort Hood, Texas, and a certified athletic trainer.

Source: www.armytimes.com