Attn: All Females - Change to the Physical Fitness Test

[Lisa 23]

CHANGE TO THE PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST

Date Signed: 11/27/2012
ALMARS Active Number: 046/12
R 271120Z NOV 12
UNCLASSIFIED/
ALMAR 046/12
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC DMCS //
SUBJ/CHANGE TO THE PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST//
REF/A/MSGI DOC/CMC WASHINGTON DC MCCDC C461TP/08AUG2008//
AMPN/REF A IS MCO 6100.13 W CH1, MARINE CORPS PHYSICAL FITNESS PROGRAM//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/
1. THIS ALMAR ANNOUNCES A CHANGE TO THE FEMALE PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST (PFT). EFFECTIVE 1 JANUARY 2014, PULL-UPS WILL REPLACE THE FLEXED ARM HANG (FAH).
2. THIS CHANGE WILL TAKE PLACE IN TWO PHASES WITH PHASE ONE BEGINNING 1 JANUARY 2013. PHASE ONE WILL SERVE AS A TRANSITION PERIOD AND IS INTENDED TO ALLOW COMMANDERS AND INDIVIDUAL FEMALE MARINES TO ADJUST INDIVIDUAL AND UNIT TRAINING ROUTINES TO PREPARE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW REQUIREMENTS. THE FAH WILL REMAIN AS PART OF THE INITIAL STRENGTH TEST (IST) CONDUCTED IN RECRUITING AND UPON ARRIVAL AT MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT PARRIS ISLAND (MCRDPI) AND DURING PFT'S CONDUCTED AT RECRUIT TRAINING. THE FAH WILL ALSO REMAIN AS PART OF THE PFT FOR OFFICER CANDIDATES IN THE SELECTION PROCESS AS WELL AS IN PFT'S TAKEN DURING OFFICER CANDIDATES SCHOOL (OCS). DURING CALENDAR YEAR 2013, FEMALE MARINES WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO CHOOSE PULL-UPS OR THE FAH ON THE PFT; THE SCORE FROM THE CHOSEN EVENT WILL BE USED IN CALCULATION OF THE OFFICIAL PFT SCORE FOR ALL PURPOSES.
3. PHASE TWO WILL COMMENCE ON 1 JANUARY 2014. PULL-UPS WILL REPLACE THE FAH PORTION OF THE PFT. THE FAH WILL, HOWEVER, REMAIN AS PART OF THE IST CONDUCTED IN RECRUITING AND AT MCRDPI. PFT'S CONDUCTED IN THE OFFICER SELECTION PROCESS AND DURING THE INVENTORY PFT AT OCS WILL ALSO INCLUDE THE FAH. PASSING THE PFT WITH PULL-UPS INSTEAD OF THE FAH WILL BE A GRADUATION REQUIREMENT FOR RECRUITS AND OFFICER CANDIDATES BEGINNING 1 JANUARY 2014. SCORING TABLES MAY BE ADJUSTED AS DATA IS GATHERED AND ASSESSED. MARINE CORPS RECRUITING COMMAND, MCRDPI AND OCS WILL REMAIN CRITICAL PARTICIPANTS IN THIS DATA COLLECTION PROCESS.
4. THE PHASE ONE SCORING TABLE FOR FEMALE MARINES IS AS FOLLOWS:
A. THE FAH WILL BE SCORED PER THE REFERENCE.
B. PULL-UP SCORING FOR FEMALE MARINES:
EIGHT (8) PULL-UPS EQUAL 100 POINTS
SEVEN (7) PULL-UPS EQUAL 95 POINTS
SIX (6) PULL-UPS EQUAL 85 POINTS
FIVE (5) PULL-UPS EQUAL 75 POINTS
FOUR (4) PULL-UPS EQUAL 65 POINTS
THREE (3) PULL-UPS EQUAL 40 POINTS
C. TO PASS THE PULL-UP PORTION OF THIS EVENT, FEMALES WILL BE REQUIRED TO EXECUTE AT LEAST THREE (3) PULL-UPS.
5. I HAVE DIRECTED THE COMMANDING GENERAL OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION COMMAND TO DEVELOP A PFT CHANGE SUPPORT WEBSITE WHICH IS LOCATED AT HTTPS SLASH)(SLASH)FITNESS.USMC.MIL/FPFT. IT CONTAINS A DETAILED, PROGRESSIVE WORKOUT PLAN WITH EXERCISES DESIGNED TO ENHANCE PULL-UP PERFORMANCE AND OVERALL UPPER BODY STRENGTH, VIDEO DEMONSTRATIONS AND OTHER RESOURCES. COMMANDERS ARE REQUIRED TO INCLUDE PULL-UP TRAINING AS A PART OF THEIR UNIT'S PHYSICAL FITNESS PROGRAM FOR ALL MARINES.
6. ADDITIONAL COORDINATING INSTRUCTIONS WILL FOLLOW IN SEPARATE CORRESPONDENCE.
7. THIS ALMAR IS APPLICABLE TO THE TOTAL FORCE MARINE CORPS.
8. SEMPER FIDELIS, JAMES F. AMOS, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS.//

http://www.marines.mil/News/Messages...ness-test.aspx

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[Lisa 23]

USMC changes fitness requirement for women


By Andrew deGrandpré - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 27, 2012 11:46:04 EST



Female Marines soon will be required to perform pull-ups, just like male Marines do, as part of their annual physical fitness tests, the Marine Corps’ top general announced Tuesday.

The change takes effect Jan. 1, 2014, Gen. Jim Amos, the service’s commandant, alerted Marines in a force-wide message. Officials will phase in the change throughout the coming year to accommodate what is expected to be a significant adjustment.

A spokesman for the commandant declined to comment. However, the general's message makes clear that he expects this to be a success, and he has ordered all Marine units to add pull-ups training to their fitness programs during the coming year.

“Phase one,” Amos explains, “will serve as a transition period, and is intended to allow commanders and individual female Marines to adjust … training routines to prepare for implementation of the new requirements.”

The commandant’s message does not indicate why the change is being implemented, but the Marine Corps has spent nearly two years evaluating the restrictions it places on women, with an eye toward breaking down longstanding barriers where possible. Within the last year, for instance, officials have opened to female Marines dozens of jobs in tank and artillery units, among others previously the province of men only.

And although women are still prohibited from filling assignments whose primary mission is direct ground combat, officials made the historic move this past summer by enrolling two female Marines into the Corps’ Infantry Officer Course. Both ultimately washed out, and so far no volunteers have stepped forward for the course’s next iteration this winter.

Known to Marines as the PFT, the physical fitness test is one of two strength and endurance evaluations all personnel must pass each year. The other, called the Combat Fitness Test, features a host of drills Marines would be expected to perform on the battlefield.

As part of the PFT, all Marines do sit-ups and conduct a timed three-mile run.

Additionally, men have been required to do pull-ups while women, viewed institutionally as having less inherent upper-body strength, have been required to perform what’s called the flexed-arm hang, hoisting themselves over the pull-up bar and holding the position for up to 70 seconds. Marines are rated based on their overall performance on each section of the test, with 300 making a perfect score.

During the coming year, as the service adjusts to the change, female Marines will have the option of doing pull-ups or the flexed-arm hang during their PFT, according to Amos’ message. But come 2014, women will be required to do at least three pull-ups to pass the PFT, with eight needed for a perfect score on that portion of the test.

Men must do three pull-ups to pass the test, with 20 required for a perfect score.

The flexed-arm hang will remain a part of the Corps’ Initial Strength Test for all female enlisted recruits and as part of the initial PFT required for female officer candidates, according to Amos’ message. However, starting in 2014, pull-ups will be a graduation requirement for boot camp and Officer Candidates School.

As Marine Corps Times reported last year senior officials have debated this idea for a while. In June 2011, following initial research at 12 installations across the Corps, the service’s physical readiness officer produced a detailed position paper calling for the test’s upper-body portion to be amended.

That study of 318 female Marines found that, on average, they could perform 1.63 pull-ups. More than 21 percent performed at least three, and 37 percent performed at least three when lower-body movement — a banned practice frequently known as “kip” — was allowed.

The discussion was scuttled late last year, with no indication it would be resumed. It’s not immediately clear why the Corps has changed course now.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news...est-pft-112712

[Rocky C]

*** New Change to Women Marines Pullup Policy ***

Effective 1-02-2013


Marines Delay Female Fitness Plan After Half Fail

1 hr ago By Pauline Jelinek of The Associated Press

The delay rekindled sharp debate in the military on the question of whether women have the physical strength for some military jobs.


WASHINGTON — More than half of female Marines in boot camp can't do three pullups, the minimum standard that was supposed to take effect with the new year, prompting the Marine Corps to delay the requirement, part of the process of equalizing physical standards to integrate women into combat jobs.


The delay rekindled sharp debate in the military on the question of whether women have the physical strength for some military jobs, as service branches move toward opening thousands of combat roles to them in 2016.


Although no new timetable has been set on the delayed physical requirement, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos wants training officials to "continue to gather data and ensure that female Marines are provided with the best opportunity to succeed," Capt. Maureen Krebs, a Marine spokeswoman, said Thursday.


Starting with the new year, all female Marines were supposed to be able to do at least three pullups on their annual physical fitness test and eight for a perfect score.


The requirement was tested in 2013 on female recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C., but only 45 percent of women met the minimum, Krebs said.


The Marines had hoped to institute the pullups on the belief that pullups require the muscular strength necessary to perform common military tasks such as scaling a wall, climbing up a rope or lifting and carrying heavy munitions.


Officials felt there wasn't a medical risk to putting the new standard into effect as planned across the service, but that the risk of losing recruits and hurting retention of women already in the service was unacceptably high, she said.


Because the change is being put off, women will be able to choose which test of upper-body strength they will be graded on in their annual physical fitness test.


Their choices:—Pullups, with three the minimum. Three is also the minimum for male Marines, but they need 20 for a perfect rating.


—A flexed-arm hang. The minimum is for 15 seconds; women get a perfect score if they last for 70 seconds.


Men don't do the hang in their test.


Officials said training for pullups can change a person's strength, while training for the flex-arm hang does little to adapt muscular strength needed for military tasks.


The delay on the standard could be another wrinkle in the plan to begin allowing women to serve in jobs previously closed to them such as infantry, armor and artillery units.


The military services are working to figure out how to move women into newly opened jobs and have been devising updated physical standards, training, education and other programs for thousands of jobs they must open Jan. 1, 2016, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, a Defense Department spokesman.


They must open as many jobs to women as possible; if they decide to keep some closed, they must explain why.


Military brass has said repeatedly that physical standards won't be lowered to accommodate female applicants.


Success for women in training for the upcoming openings has come in fits and starts.In fall 2012, only two female Marines volunteered for the 13-week infantry officers training course at Quantico, Va., and both failed to complete it.


But the following fall, three Marines became the first women to graduate from the Corps' enlisted infantry training school in North Carolina.


They completed the same test standards as the men in the course, which included a 12-mile march with an 80-pound pack and various combat fitness trials such as timed ammunition container lifts and tests that simulate running under combat fire.


Officials had added specific training for female recruits when the pullup requirement was announced in December 2012, and they came up with a workout program for women already serving.


Military testing for physical skill and stamina has changed over the decades with needs of the armed forces.


Officials say the first recorded history of Marine Corps physical fitness tests, for example, was 1908 when President Theodore Roosevelt ordered that staff officers must ride horseback 90 miles and line officers walk 50 miles over a three-day period to pass.


A test started in 1956 included chinups, pushups, broad jump, 50-yard duck waddle and running.


The first test for women was started in 1969: A 120-yard shuttle run, vertical jump, knee pushups, 600-yard run/walk and situps.