New year marks new AF fitness standards

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Brigitte Brantley
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  As the Air Force culture of maintaining physically fit Airmen continues to grow, so do the expectations placed on every individual in the service.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, a new physical fitness test will promote the already-established year-round culture of fitness and ensure each Airman is responsible for meeting and maintaining the physical fitness standards.

"All Airmen should get in the mindset to be fit year-round, not just in time for your now bi-annual PT test," said Capt. Tara McCall, Moody's fitness program manager. "Although unit physical training will no longer be mandatory, it will be at the commander's discretion, each member must still pass the test, so we should all make fitness a part of our daily lives."

With the new program, commanders may use administrative action after a single failure and can consider administrative separation after two failures.

The 23rd Wing's command chief master sergeant says that although administrative action will be an immediate option now, physical fitness should always be at the forefront of each Airman's mind.

"Airmen should remember that PT is designed to encourage us to live healthy, active lives that will allow us to remain productive well into our future," said Chief Master Sgt. Parsons. "I think one of the biggest benefits of the new test is the progressive scoring, which encourages Airmen to progress in their fitness because they are seeing more frequent increments in scores with improvement in their performance."

To ensure Airmen are prepared, they should be aware of the following changes in the PT test curriculum:

- Trained civilian employees assigned to the 23rd Force Support Squadron will be responsible for administering the physical fitness tests. Until the civilian employees are hired, physical training leaders will continue to test Airmen.

- The aerobic run is now worth 60 percent, body composition is worth 20 percent and crunches and push-ups remain at 10 percent each of the composite score.

- All Airmen will test within the first half of calendar year 2010. If your last test was in January or July of this year, you will test in January 2010. If your last test was in March or September of this year, you will test in March 2010. If you test in December of this year, you will test in June 2010.

- Airmen will be required to meet a minimum standard in each category as well as receive a composite score of 75.

- Age groups have been divided in to 10-year groups. The categories are: under 30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and over 60.

- Currently, if an Airman fails the test, he must wait a minimum of 42 days before retesting. For the new test, an individual does not have to wait.

- Categories of excellent, satisfactory and unsatisfactory will replace the current categories of Excellent, Good and Poor, but will maintain the same point ranges.

- As an alternate aerobic fitness indicator, a 1-mile walk will be used. There will no longer be an ergometry bike test or 3-mile walk test.

- If an Airman is exempt from any portion of the test, they will only receive a pass or fail instead of being placed in one of the three score categories.

- There will not be official "no-notice" tests. Commanders may request practice or diagnostic tests, but the scores from these will not be entered into the Air Force Fitness Management System.

In order to meet the new goals and adapt to the PT changes, every Airman will have to take the responsibility upon himself to be successful, said Chief Parsons.

"Discipline is a critical component of success, regardless of the task," he added. "PT provides us with a great opportunity to strengthen our ability to be disciplined. Set a schedule and stick to that commitment. If possible, workout with a Wingman so that you are committed to helping each other succeed."

For more information, including the scoring charts, check out the Frequently Asked Questions on the Air Force Personnel Center Web site at http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/affitnessprogram/affitnessfaq.asp.