Why you should do a PFT

I’ve written about this topic before, but I have recently encountered a number of applicants who want to just submit the Cadet Fitness Assessment they did for their Academy application.  If you don’t understand what I’m talking about let me break it down in simple terms.  As part of the Army ROTC scholarship application Cadet Command asks you to take a modified Presidential Fitness Test.  You can download the scorecard right from the application website, and you can have a gym teacher or coach administer the test.  The test consists of three events:

1 minute of pushups

1 minute of CURLUPS

1 mile run

I highlight curlups, because that is not the exercise the Army will ask you to do once you are in.  If you enroll in Army ROTC you will never be tested on curlups again.

So, applicants to a Service Academy like West Point are asked to take what is called the Cadet Fitness Assessment (CFA).  This is a 6 event test that consists of:

Basketball throw

Pull ups or flexed arm hang

Shuttle run

2 minutes of Curl ups

2 minutes of Push ups

1 mile run

If the applicant chooses to have the Academy send the CFA score to Cadet Command they will use that score.  But, it appears what Cadet Command does is cuts your Curl up and Push up scores in half (2 minutes vs 1 minute) and takes the run time as is.  Does anyone else see the issues I have with this??

First off you are being asked to do three events before the event Cadet Command wants you to be tested on.  Think doing a shuttle run and a bunch of pull ups before your test might reduce your score a little?  Then they are asking you to do two minutes instead of one.  Think an extra minute of two exercises before the run might add a second or two?  And finally, does anyone else usually do more push ups and sit ups in the first minute if they are being tested for two minutes?

So, I’m recommending that you take the 30 minutes it will take to do a straight up PFT and send Cadet Command the best score you can and exactly what they asked for.