Do these Air Force fitness standards make sense?

[DSeid]

Well the article I read them in is about trying to figure out if they do, but still, some humble opinions …

The article is about research aimed at

developing practical standards that the Air Force can use to judge whether an airman is physically fit for combat: a minimum number of crunches, for example, or swimming a certain distance within a time limit.

Setting those magic numbers is a balancing act. Ideally, any cutoff should minimize the number of people who might meet the fitness standard but then fail the simulations. But it will also need to avoid axing less fit recruits who might succeed on actual combat tasks.

Note “airmen” is a term that applies to males and females and the goal is that testing would apply all airmen.

Meanwhile the article states that current standardsinclude:

6 pull-ups in a minute
50 sit-ups in a minute
35 push-ups in a minute
A 3 mile run completed in 24 minutes or less, and
1500 meter fin swim completed in 34 minutes or less.

To me it seems that the strength tests are a pretty low bar but I know many very fit individuals who can keep running for many many miles who would be hard pressed to keep up an 8 minute mile pace for 3 miles. (Me? I got short legs!)

Not sure if Science just has it wrong this time as the Air Force Personnel Center lists these standards. That uses a 1.5 mile run and gives a pass for under 13.14 in the under 30 group (that’s about 8 min 45 sec per mile) and for old farts like me (the 50 to 59 group) 15.50 passes (a 10min 20 sec/mile pace).

Thoughts?

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@DSeid

Not sure if Science just has it wrong this time as the Air Force Personnel Center lists these standards. That uses a 1.5 mile run and gives a pass for under 13.14 in the under 30 group (that’s about 8 min 45 sec per mile) and for old farts like me (the 50 to 59 group) 15.50 passes (a 10min 20 sec/mile pace).

Isn’t the article just talking about the USAF airmen who do ground combat and rescue operations? If you’re a flight surgeon or a JAG lawyer or even a drone pilot, the brass maybe aren’t asking you to prove your worth in a three-mile run or a fin swim.

[Wolf333]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Isn’t the article just talking about the USAF airmen who do ground combat and rescue operations? If you’re a flight surgeon or a JAG lawyer or even a drone pilot, the brass maybe aren’t asking you to prove your worth in a three-mile run or a fin swim.

This. The chart specifies “Battle Field Airmen”.

[Renee]

Yeah. My husband is AF, and has never been required to do a pull up or swim in a fit test. The women’s standards are really low, iirc. I could easily pass without any training.

[DSeid]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Isn’t the article just talking about the USAF airmen who do ground combat and rescue operations? If you’re a flight surgeon or a JAG lawyer or even a drone pilot, the brass maybe aren’t asking you to prove your worth in a three-mile run or a fin swim.

Ah. That helps. Still does not explain then why the strength portions are such a relatively low bar, to my read anyway.

[Dinsdale]

Low bar for you maybe, but when I was at my fittest - running marathons and fighting competitively, I was never able to do 6 pull-ups. The other tests would have been cake.

[DSeid]

Well then let me ask the question in a different way:

Which of those standards would present the biggest challenge for each of you?

Okay few of us will know how we can do on a 1500 m fin swim.

BTW, I do like the idea of the AF trying to actually correlate testing for fitness with at least simulations of what the fitness is actually for.