{"id":45828,"date":"2019-08-08T21:37:18","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T21:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/08\/as-acft-rollout-nears-leaders-talk-preparation-test-difficulty-and-how-to-train-without-exact-equipment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:23:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:23:57","slug":"as-acft-rollout-nears-leaders-talk-preparation-test-difficulty-and-how-to-train-without-exact-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/08\/08\/as-acft-rollout-nears-leaders-talk-preparation-test-difficulty-and-how-to-train-without-exact-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"As ACFT rollout nears, leaders talk preparation, test difficulty and how to train \u2018without exact equipment\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FORT MONROE, Va. \u2015 As the Army begins training for and taking the new combat fitness test<\/a>, leaders from Training and Doctrine Command <\/a>addressed some common concerns surrounding the test, including injury prevention, availability of equipment and technique for the six events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting in October, the entire Army will take two practice tests roughly six months apart. Then, in fall 2020, the ACFT is scheduled to become the Army physical test of record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past year, 63 Army Reserve, National Guard<\/a> and active-duty battalions were fielded the equipment to train for and take trial ACFTs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for nearly a decade, the Army has had functional fitness training guidelines that should have eased the culture shock for soldiers, TRADOC\u2019s top NCO, Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Guden, told Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2009-ish, we released our new PRT \u2014 Army physical readiness training<\/a> \u2014 and that wasn\u2019t received real well,” Guden said. But \u201cthe ACFT is a culminating event to all of that work that we\u2019ve been putting into PRT up to that point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PRT included events like single-leg dead-lifts, leg tucks, squat jumps and alternating grip pull-ups, as well as other load-bearing exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re now just starting to do PRT because the ACFT is here, yeah, there are some concerns,” Guden said. “For instance … the maximum dead-lift. Some of our exercises that are in PRT go right into performing that test event correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One common concern, especially by National Guard units in more remote parts of the United States, is that the availability of equipment could inhibit preparation for the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\t