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Why the Army Is Having a Fitness Crisis
Citat:
"Though I understand the reason behind it, the APFT is a very simple tool that is outdated," Collins said. When a doughy, 18-year-old recruit comes into basic training, Collins says, "It takes many months to get that soldier into fighting shape. You have to incorporate speed, strength, agility, load-bearing fitness, and mental fitness into your training.
Other military officials told the Observer that soldiers often just train to ace the APFT, which can lead to overtraining injuries and doesn't actually prepare them for what they'll need to do in combat.
In fact, Bonenberger and Collins both noted that the actual demands of combat can't entirely be judged on a person's ability to crank out push-ups and sit-ups.
"The most important part of 'Army fitness' is actually mental endurance," Bonenberger said. "Much of the training that goes into shaping young soldiers and officers is conditioning them to push through pain and stress.
"Having incredibly fit soldiers simply isn't that important, on a certain level," he added. "In the infantry, you just need soldiers who can walk carrying lots of weight over long distances, and then shoot a rifle or machine-gun when they get to wherever they're going."
It looks like the military's new test might be a bit closer to this. The Observer reports that officials are experimenting with a new test, the Soldier Readiness Test, which incorporates more combat-applicable exercises — similar to this advanced training we witnessed in 2012. Soldiers would have to do a 225-pound tire flip, an agility test, a 240-pound dummy drag, a sandbag toss over a 7-foot wall, stack sandbags, and run a mile and a half, all while wearing their boots, combat uniform, and full body armor.
Citat:"There is no way to prepare for the conditions of combat except combat itself," he said. "You can't prepare to pull yourself up over a wall with all your gear on after a 30-hour patrol with no sleep except to be in that moment and succeed. You can train to get close, but never 100%."
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