“…It is a proud privilege to be a soldier – a good soldier … [with] discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to his superiors, and a self confidence born of demonstrated ability.”
― George S. Patton Jr.
Do you know what it takes to become a soldier in the United States military? Do you have what it takes? Throughout each branch in the military, there are different standards with individuals are either required to do or even exceed. The sole purpose of requiring physical fitness (PT) is that the Armed Forces need men and women that can protect our country and lead troops into battle. No matter what job or specialty you wish to pursue, you must be able to pass a physical fitness test.
Each physical fitness test in the military solely focuses on calisthenics. These are body weight exercises used to determine if one can manage to lift up their own weight before putting even more weight on (rifles, helmets, assault packs, etc). This test determines if a soldier needs to get in more shape or is in good physical standing. The events that are typically utilized range from push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and a run at the end. With that being said, I will go into detail about each branches standards.
Marine Corps – Physical Fitness Test (PFT)
- MAX Score: 300 Points (20 pull-ups, 105 crunches, 18:00 3-mile run)
- MINMUM Score: 135 Points (3 pull-ups, 50 crunches, 28:00 3-mile run)
- Pull-Up/Push-Up: To determine upper body strength, the Marine Corps utilizes pull-ups. Pull-ups are preferred on the test but one can do push-ups, The only caveat to that is that you can only receive a max score of 70 points if you choose to do push-ups. This event is not timed, your score is determined by how many pull-ups you can complete before dropping off the bar.
- Crunches: Your score is determined by the number of crunches you can do in the 2-minute time limit.
- 3-mile Run: This event is timed, and your score is determined by how long it takes to complete the run.
Army – PFT
- MAX Score: 300 Points (71 push-ups, 78 sit-ups, 13:00 3-mile run)
- MINMUM Score: 150 Points (35 push-ups, 47 sit-ups, 16:36 3-mile run)
- Push-Up: Your score is determined by the number of push-ups you can do in the 2-minute time limit.
- Sit-ups: Your score is determined by the number of sit-ups you can do in the 2-minute time limit.
- 2-mile Run: This event is timed, and your score is determined by how long it takes to complete the run.
Navy – PRT
- MAX Score: 300 Points (92 push-ups, 109 curl-ups, 8:15 1.5-mile run)
- MINMUM Score: 150 Points (45 push-ups, 50 curl-ups, 12:45 1.5-mile run)
- Push-Up: Your score is determined by the number of push-ups you can do in the 2-minute time limit.
- Curl-up: Your score is determined by the number of curl-ups you can do in the 2-minute time limit.
- 1.5-mile Run: This event is timed, and your score is determined by how long it takes to complete the run.
Air Force – BMT
- MAX Score: 90 Points (67 push-ups, 58 sit-ups, 9:12 1.5-mile run)
- MINMUM Score: 75 points (33 push-ups, 42 sit-ups, 13:36 1.5-mile run)
- Push-Up: Your score is determined by the number of push-ups you can do in the 2-minute time limit.
- Sit-up: Your score is determined by the number of sit-ups you can do in the 2-minute time limit.
- 1.5-mile Run: This event is timed, and your score is determined by how long it takes to complete the run.
Which one would you prefer? Which one is the hardest?