Political Correctness invades U.S. Military: Pentagon lowers fitness requirement for women

Politically correctness has entered the U.S. military.

In October 2020, the Pentagon replaced the Army Physical Test that had served the U.S. military for 40 years with the gender-neutral (the test applies equally to both men and women) Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT).

As the military explains:

The ACFT will strengthen our fitness culture, reduce injuries, and increase Army readiness. The Army’s physical readiness program and physical fitness test must evolve to reduce injuries and empower Soldiers abilities to perform those basic Soldier tasks on an age and gender neutral battlefield. The ACFT drives balanced and appropriate physical training that will reduce overuse injuries and unplanned attrition. As of April 2020, 58,000 Soldiers (equivalent to 13 Brigade Combat Teams (BCT’s)) were non-deployable.

ACFT maximum deadlift

The Army Combat Fitness Test consists of 6 sub-tests:

1. The maximum deadlift: Deadlift the maximum weight possible 3 times. The standard equipment is the 60-pound hex bar and plates.
2. Standing power throw: Throw a 10-pound medicine ball backward and overhead for distance.
3. Hand-release push-ups: Complete as many hand-release push-ups as possible in 2 minutes.
4. Sprint, drag and carry: Conduct 5 x 50 meter shuttles for time – sprint, drag, lateral, carry and sprint. The standard equipment are 2×40-pound kettlebells and 90-pound sled.
5. Leg tuck: Using a climbing bar, complete as many leg tucks as possible; maintain a relative vertical posture while moving the hips and knees up and down without excessive swinging.
6. Two-mile run: Run 2 miles for time on a measured, generally flat outdoor course.

To pass the Army Combat Fitness Test, soldiers must score at least 360 points out of a possible 600. Those who achieve higher scores are more likely to be promoted.

But, as reported by the UK newspaper, The Telegraph, on March 13, 2021 , a Pentagon study showed that:

• Women were failing the ACFT at a rate of 65%, while only 10% of men did.
• Average scores for women were 100 points lower.

The poorer performance of women on the ACFT meant they were less likely to be promoted.

What is the reaction from the Biden Administration’s Pentagon and the Democrat-majority Congress? Instead of improving women’s fitness:

• Congress halted implementation of the test and declared that the test in its current form should not be a factor in deciding whether someone gets promoted.
• The Army launched an independent review into whether the test is fair, and changed the test from gender-neutral to evaluate men and women differently.

Changes expected to be introduced include:

• How core body strength is tested in the leg tuck event. Instead of hanging from a bar and tucking legs to their chest, soldiers will instead be given the option of doing a two-minute plank exercise. Early research showed female soldiers’ scores were improving with the plank option.
• Rather than using their raw scores, men and women would separately be categorized as in the top 1%, top 10%, and so on. That means, women who scored in the top 1% among women would be promoted, even though their raw scores may be lower than those of men.

An Army officer told Military.com that “We have to figure out a way to make it fair to both genders…that accounts for physiological differences,” and insisted that the new test is “a more gender-neutral assessment process because it doesn’t show the raw scores.”

To her credit, Captain Kristen Griest, the US Army’s first female infantry officer, argued that the ACFT should be scored the same for men and women because not doing so would have “insidious impacts on combat effectiveness.” She said critics might call her “uncaring” but “nothing could be further from the truth. To not require women to meet equal standards in combat arms will not only undermine their credibility, but also place those women, their teammates, and the mission at risk.” For in the last analysis, the Army can ignore the differences in combat fitness between men and women, but the differences “may still exist on the battlefield.”