If you’re headed into the Army, you’ll soon be held to one of two standards — depending on whether you’re a woman or man.
The all-new Army Combat Fitness Test, (ACFT), was launched last week. What’s new: gender-based scoring standards.
Have a grenade on you? Go ahead and throw like a girl — you were scored accordingly back at base.
Military.com
On April 1, the final test will go live. Soldiers won’t have scores affect their records. This can lead to promotions or expulsions from the Army. The last version of the test is available until October 1. The Army won’t immediately remove failures from the force. Reserve and part-time National Guard soldiers will have to wait until April 2023 before any scores can be added.
There are six events at the ACFT
- Maximum Deadlift
- Standing Power Throw
- Hand Release Pushups
- Sprint/Drag/Carry
- Leg Tuck
- Two-Mile Run
There has been more to the exercise routine:
[I]This is not a course that prepares soldiers for combat; it’s primarily designed to assess general fitness.
There’s a sense to that — ours is a progressively more recreational fighting force:
In the spirit of brand-spanking, you will find the standards that meet your needs rather than vice versa.
It will…have different scoring standards for men and women across different age groups, in most cases lowering them, following a congressionally mandated report from Rand Corp, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, that found nearly half of the service’s women could not pass earlier standards for the test.
Here’s the nitty gritty
[A]A female soldier aged between 17 and 21 must be able and willing to lift 120 to 210 pounds. While a male soldier needs to lift between 140-340 lbs, Female soldiers in the same age category must run 2 miles, between 23:22 to 15:29 and 22:22 and 23, while male soldiers need to do that workout between 22:22 and 13:22. After data showing that this run was the most successful for each gender, the Army trialled a new version of the ACFT for male soldiers. It takes one minute more than previous versions.
As the event is to assess core strength, leg tucks have been eliminated. Instead planks will take their place. … Test designers were concerned that the leg tuck doesn’t strictly measure core muscle strength but also requires that a soldier spend a lot of energy on upper-body and grip strength. …
“If I don’t have the grip strength, but have the core strength, I can’t do a leg tuck,” [Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston] said. “That was the reason for taking that out; we wanted to measure core strength.”
In times past, the military held tough standards so only tough people could join — so they could be tough on the tough battlefield. But these days, we’re being told that something wholly different than individual excellence makes us primed to proficiently kill people and break things.
John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary:
“Obviously, we take the need to promote Diversity InclusionThis department is taken seriously. The secretary has spoken to that many times.”
In the words of Air Force Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel, and Services Gwendolyn DeFillippi:
“With the addition of [the Indigenous Nations Equality Team, or INET, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning Initiative Team, otherwise known as LIT]We will be able to better understand the barriers that prevent us from providing service, which can help us improve our services. Diversity and inclusion. Our Airmen and Guardians are the pulse of our Department’s culture and the Different backgrounds. Inputs from these volunteer groups is vital.”
Photo courtesy of Eric Fanning, Secretary of Army
“Striving to engender greater Diversity in our force is too important to the Army’s effectiveness to avoid continuous self-examination. … Engendering greater Diversity Inclusion and diversity is not social experimentation; it is in fact a dynamic that has often been at the center of the Army’s success.”
The Senior Advisor to U.S. Defense Secretary for Human Capital is quoted. Diversity, equity, and inclusionBishop Garrison
“I would hope that as many leaders and members of the total force as possible see [diversity, equity and inclusion] efforts as a force multiplier.”
You can also see:
A Change in Policy allows Transgender Soldiers Openly to Serve
Military in Motion: U.S. Navy Adds Antiracist Books To Its Official Read List
Histories-Making Defense Secretary Hails more History: For Transgenderism within the Military
The U.S. Army announces that Lipstick and Nail Polish are now allowed.
And:
Report: US Army Mandates Training to Help Soldiers Shake off Their Sex ‘Assigned at Birth’https://t.co/kQXLSXnTcD
— Alex Parker (@alexparker1984) March 31, 2022
Since 1984, the APFT has used the three-event version of the APFT (with push-ups, sit ups, and a 2-mile running)
2015 saw the opening of infantry and cavalry to women. Things didn’t go equitably:
Research at [Rand Corp.]It was found that 52% of active-duty female enlisted soldiers were not able to pass. [it]According to Wednesday’s congressionally required study, 92% of males were able to pass. The National Guard only had 42%, while the Reserve had 41%.
In all fairness, I presume we’re in talks with other countries and terrorist organizations to set up a system in which, in the event of any physically-demanding combat, they’ll only pair their girls with ours and leave the guys to themselves.
I guess it’s fine to let in females who aren’t equipped to fight at the standards which — in the heat of battle — have previously resulted in death among even the military’s fittest males. It’s not as if the Powers That Be are planning to put ladies in harm’s way…
Military Generals Call for Increased Diversity, Encourage More Women in Combat https://t.co/Iw9XcvFJis
— RedState (@RedState) May 7, 2021
-ALEX
You can find more of my content here:
Professors Teach Preschoolers to See Color as Childhood Innocence Gets ‘Debunked’
Biden Launches Gender ‘X’ Passports — You Can Now Travel as Neither Man Nor Woman
Hospitals Are Starting to Ask Men if They’re Pregnant
All my RedState works Click here.
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