{"id":13572,"date":"2018-09-26T20:39:25","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T20:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/26\/eod-techs-take-brutal-gruseter-exercise-other-new-pt-standards-for-a-spin\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:19:23","slug":"eod-techs-take-brutal-gruseter-exercise-other-new-pt-standards-for-a-spin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/09\/26\/eod-techs-take-brutal-gruseter-exercise-other-new-pt-standards-for-a-spin\/","title":{"rendered":"EOD techs take \u2018brutal\u2019 Gruseter exercise, other new PT standards for a spin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some explosive ordnance disposal technicians earlier this month got a first taste of what could be their new physical fitness test<\/a> \u2014 including a \u201cbrutal\u201d new exercise designed to push them to their limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new program being tested for EOD techs represents the Air Force\u2019s latest effort to roll out so-called \u201cTier 2\u201d physical fitness standards, or gender-neutral<\/a>, career-field-specific standards, to evaluate how well airmen can perform the physical tasks required<\/a> for their jobs. In January, the Air Force unveiled PT standards for tactical air control party airmen and their officer equivalents, air liaison officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EOD techs from seven bases gathered at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, Sept. 10-12, to beta test a prototype of their career field\u2019s new standards, according to a Sept. 21 release from the Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will be the new standard for anyone who wants to be an EOD operator, regardless of age and gender,\u201d said Capt. Cory McCart, EOD flight commander for the 96th Civil Engineer Group at Eglin, which hosted the Tier 2 beta test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of these job-specific standards is to come up with a universal way to evaluate how well TACP, EOD, or other airmen in physically active career fields can perform the physical tasks required for their jobs. The standards are the same for men and women of any age in the same career fields, and the exercises were designed to emulate the physical requirements of certain aspects of their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, said Neal Baumgartner, the chief of the Air Force\u2019s exercise science unit who led the design of Tier 2 standards, the suits EOD techs wear range from 77 to 82 pounds. So as part of the \u201cGruseter\u201d \u2014 a grueling new combination of exercises that was designed for the EOD Tier 2 standards \u2014 airmen wear 30-pound vests and at times carry a 50-pound sandbag, for a total of 80 pounds of added weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n