An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Vermont National Guard Logo News
Articles
News | March 22, 2021

ACFT 3.0: Exploring a more inclusive scoring assessment, planks stay

By Thomas Brading Army News Service

The latest version of the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT 3.0, is exploring the potential use of a performance tier program that accounts for the physiological differences between the genders, head of U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training recently said.

The new evaluation system may have five performance categories divided and updated yearly based on Soldier performance, said Maj. Gen. Lonnie G. Hibbard.

Another change also adds the plank as a fully graded substitute for the leg tuck. Soldiers can now select either the leg tuck or plank test as their abdominal core assessment portion of the fitness test. The plank will be scored on a 100-point scale, like the other events.

The announcement is in line with the Army’s previous guidance, which has been to make data-informed decisions to improve the Army’s cultural fitness, Hibbard said. There are no other changes in the six-event physical fitness test and current changes were informed by compiled information, including Soldier feedback.

“Army senior leaders are listening to what our Soldiers are saying about the ACFT,” the general said, adding that the updates address many of their concerns.

New scoring assessment

The potential new evaluation system may have five performance categories: green, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. The categories will be developed based on ACFT performance by male and female Soldiers.

For example, Soldiers in the platinum category may represent the top 1% of all scores, while Soldiers in the green band may represent the lowest 50% of the total force. The scoring averages for male and female Soldiers may vary, but the minimum standard will remain gender neutral.

“Nobody wants to be in the bottom half of the Army,” Hibbard said. “[They] want to be in the bronze, or above the top 50% of the total force.”

In the future, the evaluation system, normalized across gender, could allow Soldiers to compete against each other, respectively, since Soldiers are naturally competitive, he said. These numbers would also give Army officials a yearly snapshot that gauges the overall fitness of the force.

Officials may rack and stack ACFT scores by gender, from 360 to 600. The ACFT raw cut scores for green, bronze and the others could be based on the percentage of Soldiers in each distribution.

If 1% of male Soldiers receive a raw ACFT score of 585 or higher the prior year, then 585 could be the brass ring for all male Soldiers to reach if they want to be in the platinum category. Females would have their own respective 1% cut score to achieve a platinum grade.

The new performance categories are expected to evaluate individual levels of fitness by helping Soldiers understand how their fitness level compares to their gender peers. It could also allow the application of scores for future administrative uses for all genders.

Although the scoring system may eventually open the door for Soldiers to measure their fitness among gender peers, for now, performance will not be used administratively, good or bad, as the data collection period remains ongoing. The Army believes full implementation of the ACFT may start as early as March 2022, but full implementation will only be executed when sufficient data exists for Army leaders to make fully informed decisions.

Plank alternate event

By making the plank a fully scored option for the leg tuck, CIMT officials expect an uptick in scores.

Before, Soldiers who were unsuccessful on the leg tuck could perform the plank and only receive 60 points for passing the event. Now the plank can be chosen in place of the leg tuck for up to 100 points.

This change also helps officials collect more data on how the performance categories will be divided, Hibbard said.

Part of the justification for the plank resulted from some Soldiers, many years into their careers, who were not asked by the Army to build their upper body strength until recently. By opting out of the leg tuck, the plank will give them time to adapt their physical readiness training to the changing culture of fitness, CIMT officials said.

The leg tuck will still be the primary test of core strength, officials say, because it is a better correlation between the fitness requirements needed for warrior tasks and battle drills.

“Every Soldier should strive to lift themselves, but the plank allows Soldiers the time they need to train on this skill,” they said.

Reducing injuries, maintaining readiness

In 2003, officials began noticing Soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were unable to conduct basic drills, like firing their weapons, moving to cover, or performing first aid. The Army then developed the warrior tasks and battle drills, a series of basic Soldier skills for all to train on.

By 2009, officials recognized the Army’s physical readiness training, or PRT, lacked the tools needed to prepare Soldiers for combat. Thus, the physical readiness training manual, known today as Field Manual 7-22 Holistic Health and Fitness, was unveiled.

But there was a disconnect between the new PRT strategies and the three-event Army Physical Fitness Test. Soldiers were told they needed to develop more muscular strength and power, but all they needed to be considered physically fit was perform well on pushups, situps and the 2-mile run. This made it difficult to change the Army’s physical fitness culture based on the new physical training manual. In contrast, the ACFT measures a Soldier’s physical ability to execute combat-related tasks, and is intended to validate the Soldier and unit’s physical readiness training.

‘Take the test’

One of the biggest hurdles CIMT has faced has been testing anxiety often caused by online misinformation, Hibbard said. The simplest way Soldiers can overcome this is to just take the test.

“The more you take [the ACFT], the more you understand your strengths and weaknesses and how to train for it,” he said. By taking it now, it helps enable them to be successful.

“Take the test,” said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael A. Grinston. “If we do that, I believe we’ll see fewer injuries across the force, and we’ll have an Army that is fit and ready for wherever we’re asked to deploy, fight, win, and return home.”

Overall, Hibbard said there is currently an 85% pass rate among the Soldiers who have taken the test. Army leaders expect the pass rate on the leg tuck test event to increase between 30-40% by adding the plank as a core abdominal substitute for the leg tuck.

Many of the changes being explored in the tier program were inspired by what foreign allies are doing, Hibbard said. Most times, when allies have overhauled their fitness tests, which took roughly five years to complete, the positive results were apparent.

As allied troops began training, and testing more frequently, their leaders noticed them building muscle memory. The results were consistently improved overall test scores, Hibbard said, adding that is CIMT’s goal for the Army.

“We expect performance tiers will change the culture of fitness, because as the scores improve we believe the bands will get a little tougher,” he said.

Grinston hopes the tactic will help inspire change in the Army’s fitness culture.

“We are going to make policy decisions informed by the data collected through implementation,” Grinston said. “Currently, less than 25% of the total Army has taken the test. And most of that is from our [Army Forces Command] units.

“What’s more, is only 7% of the Army has taken it twice,” he added. “So, we aren’t able to see the impacts of these decisions.”

Regardless of the iteration, whether it is 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0, one aspect of the ACFT has not changed: it is here to stay and all decisions have been made to reduce injuries and empower Soldiers’ abilities to perform the basic tasks required of them, Hibbard said.

National Guard News
Air Force Senior Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead, the SEA to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, attends a red carpet screening event of “Devotion” Nov. 17, 2022. The Georgia National Guard helped support production of the film from March 27-29, 2021.
Guard Wing Supports Film Production of First Black Naval Aviator, MOH Recipient from Korean War
By National Guard Bureau | Nov. 23, 2022
ARLINGTON, Va. - “Devotion” details the heroic efforts of Navy Capt. Thomas Hudner Jr., who purposely crash-landed his own aircraft in an attempt to rescue downed fellow naval aviator Ensign Jesse Brown during the Korean...

Service members from the Pennsylvania National Guard's 3rd CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) Task Force drill through concrete during a Homeland Response Force collective training exercise Nov. 18, 2022, at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa.
Pennsylvania Guard Conducts Homeland Response Force Exercise
By Brad Rhen, | Nov. 23, 2022
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – Pennsylvania National Guard members of the state’s Homeland Response Force conducted a training exercise Nov. 17-20.Almost 400 Soldiers and Airmen from Army and Air National Guard units from across...

Master Sgt. Jamie Bethune tows a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, assigned to the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing, on the ramp in Sioux City, Iowa, Nov. 22, 2022. The unit’s aircraft returned to Sioux City this week after operating from Topeka, Kansas, during a runway construction project.
KC-135 Operations Resume at Reopened Sioux City Runway
By Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot, | Nov. 23, 2022
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Military aircraft operations returned to the Sioux City airport this week with the completion of a substantial runway improvement project.While the construction was underway, Iowa Air National Guard members...

New York Air National Guard Tech Sgt. Jeremy Miter, right, a member of the 274th Air Support Operations Squadron, is congratulated by the chief of Brazil’s world-famous Jungle Warfare Training School in Manas, Brazil, Nov. 17, 2022, after completing the international course. Miter attended the course as part of the State Partnership Program agreement between Brazil and the New York National Guard.
New York Air Guardsman Completes Brazil Jungle Training
By Eric Durr, | Nov. 22, 2022
MANAS, Brazil - For New York Air National Guard Tech Sgt. Jeremy Miter, adapting to the heat and humidity of the Amazon basin was the toughest part of the six weeks he spent at Brazil’s jungle warfare school from the end of...

The New York National Guard's 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, responds to snow recovery operations around Buffalo Nov 19, 2022. Since being placed on standby at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's direction, the number of activated service members has doubled to 140.
New York Guard Assists With Historic Snowfall Response
By Col. Richard Goldenberg, | Nov. 21, 2022
BUFFALO, N.Y. – One hundred and thirty New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen responded to a massive lake-effect snowstorm that hit the Buffalo area.At the direction of Gov. Kathy Hochul, 60 Soldiers and Airmen, divided...