The Army Combat Fitness Test entered a service-wide test phase this October and will transition to the physical test of record in October 2020.
The service is working to dish out $70 million worth of equipment to units across the force beginning in January, according to Maj. Gen. Lonnie G. Hibbard, commander of the Center for Initial Military Training.
Hibbard previously told Army Times that the plan is to have all the equipment in place for active, Guard and Reserve units by May, which will line up with the summer training cycles of the Guard and Reserve.
All active-duty soldiers are supposed to take two ACFT diagnostic tests in 2020, while soldiers in the Guard and Reserve components will take one diagnostic test.
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For soldiers on permanent profiles, Army Medical Command released interim guidance stating that soldiers can take a modified version of the ACFT with as few as one event from the six-event test.
However, a three-event minimum has previously been floated as the standard for when the ACFT becomes the Army’s test of record after October 2020.
The Center for Initial Military Training previously said that it was looking to implement an alternative ACFT that includes, at a minimum: the three-repetition maximum deadlift, the sprint-drag-carry and one of the aerobic events.
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
