Twice-a-year PT tests will start in January - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Twice-a-year PT tests will start in January

Airmen must take the fitness test twice a year starting in January 2010 as part of new servicewide fitness program, officials announced Monday.

The new program also will mandate that all PT tests be given by trained civilian proctors in centralized locations called fitness assessment cells.

The test’s four components will stay essentially the same, but the weight given to each will change. The 1.5-mile run, previously 50 points, will be worth 60 points; body composition, previously 30 points, will be worth 20. Sit-ups and push-ups remain 10 points each.

Airmen will need a composite score of 75, while meeting minimum requirements for each component.

Standards for the much-maligned body composition waist measurement are easing slightly: Men can score the maximum points with a measurement of 35 inches instead of 32, and women can max out with a measurement of 31.5 inches instead of 29.

And age categories are being simplified to younger than 30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60-plus years of age.

Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and other service four-stars decided what the new program will look like last week at their spring Corona session.

The push for a new program gained momentum after an internal audit released in January found the PT program promotes a “fit to test” culture rather than a “fit to fight” culture, with most airmen gaining weight after taking the PT test.

After the audit was released, Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Howie Chandler ordered all PT tests to be monitored by staff at the base health and wellness centers instead of fellow airmen.

Pacific Air Forces has seen its PT test failure rate jump from 2 percent to 15 percent since the change. McKinley said in May that he’s afraid the rest of the service will see the same jump in test failures, but the policy changes were important to ensure the test was fair across the service.

Schwartz agreed.

“It is crucial the physical fitness test be applied in a consistent manner across the force,” he said in a news release. “The changes to the testing standards will be clearer and more understandable and provide our airmen with explicit feedback on how they can improve their fitness level.”

This will be the second major change to the service PT program in four years. The service introduced the 1.5-mile run in 2004 as part of its “Fit to Fight” fitness program.