Physical Fitness Test
From USAFA Folklore
The Physical Fitness Test (PFT) is a fitness test which all cadets are required to take each semester. The test consists of five events--pull-ups, standing long jump, sit-ups, push-ups and a 600 meter run. The five events are run in a continuous test, with two minutes given for each event and a one-minute break in-between events.
Each event is graded out of 100 points for a maximum possible score of 500. Although the specific passing criteria have changed over time, an overall score of 250 is usually passing, and a score above 400 is generally considered very good. Cadets who score above 450 (in some years, above 400) are rewarded by being exempted from taking the following semester's PFT. In some years, scoring a perfect 500 would exempt you from the test until graduation.
Contents |
[edit] Administration of the Test
The PFT is regarded by many as a "haze." The individual events are not difficult, but for some the event as a whole is physically taxing. The positioning of several trashcans around the track is by no means a coincidence.
The pain and frustration often doesn't come from the events themselves, but from the graders. An anal retentive grader with keen vision and a ruler/protractor lying prone in front of you can certainly ruin your day by refusing to count several of your push-ups. Your perfect score can be lost as an old man with a beer belly claims that half of your push-ups went only to 89.9 degrees and did not, in fact, break the 90 degree plane. Though you may have actually done over a hundred, this grader may only count 20. These perfectionists exist mostly on the pull-up and push-up events. Many cadets scope out the lines beforehand to avoid the harrassment of these graders as best they can, because no one wants to do extra repititions if they can avoid it. The USAFA-style PFT is probably the most difficult of Academy fitness tests and is substantially easier than the actual Air Force PFT, which members of ROTC take. Some graders obviously make the task a little more difficult as well.
Those that run too slow on the run are also chatised as not being "excellent" enough and not living up to the core values, even if the person did already break 400 of the 500 points from the other events alone. Some have been rumored to have been placed on aptitude probation for running too slow. The cadet that sadly passed away after taking a PFT was initially chastised in a similar manner for lying down after the run. Blowing off the run was actually fairly common when the PFT standards allowed you to fail one event, but pass the entire test with a higher score. The requirements were something like 250 if you passed all events, and 300 if you failed one, so folks would calculate what they needed on the first four, then walk the run.
[edit] History
- In the late 1970s, women cadets performed the "flexed arm hang" instead of the pull-ups.
- At least once in the early 90s, AH hosted a "Super PFT", which anyone who had made a perfect 500 could enter. Scoring for the Super PFT started at the normal maximums for each event.
- In spring 2005, a cadet suffered a heart attack and passed away following completion of the PFT.
[edit] PFT Standards
| Men's Standards (Min/Max) | Women's Standards (Min/Max) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pull-up | Long Jump | Situp | Pushup | 600yd run | Pull-up/ FlexArm | Long Jump | Situp | Pushup | 600yd run | Pass Score | Administered by | Incentives |
| 1959 | |||||||||||||
| 1960 | |||||||||||||
| 1961 | |||||||||||||
| 1962 | |||||||||||||
| 1963 | |||||||||||||
| 1964 | |||||||||||||
| 1965 | |||||||||||||
| 1966 | |||||||||||||
| 1967 | |||||||||||||
| 1968 | |||||||||||||
| 1969 | |||||||||||||
| 1970 | |||||||||||||
| 1971 | |||||||||||||
| 1972 | |||||||||||||
| 1973 | |||||||||||||
| 1974 | |||||||||||||
| 1975 | |||||||||||||
| 1976 | |||||||||||||
| 1977 | |||||||||||||
| 1978 | |||||||||||||
| 1979 | |||||||||||||
| 1980 | |||||||||||||
| 1981 | |||||||||||||
| 1982 | |||||||||||||
| 1983 | |||||||||||||
| 1984 | |||||||||||||
| 1985 | |||||||||||||
| 1986 | |||||||||||||
| 1987 | |||||||||||||
| 1988 | |||||||||||||
| 1989 | 9/21 | _/_ | _/_ | 35/70 | 2:04/1:35 | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | __ __ if 1 event failed | Firsties who had not failed a PFT | 400:Exempt next PFT 500:Permanently exempt |
| 1990 | 9/21 | _/_ | _/_ | 35/70 | 2:04/1:35 | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | __ __ if 1 event failed | Firsties who had not failed a PFT | 400:Exempt next PFT 500:Permanently exempt |
| 1991 | 9/21 | _/_ | _/_ | 35/70 | 2:04/1:35 | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | __ __ if 1 event failed | Firsties who had not failed a PFT | 400:Exempt next PFT 500:Permanently exempt |
| 1992 | 9/21 | _/_ | _/_ | 35/70 | 2:04/1:35 | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | _/_ | __ __ if 1 event failed | Firsties who had not failed a PFT | 400:Exempt next PFT 500:Permanently exempt |
| 1993 | |||||||||||||
| 1994 | |||||||||||||
| 1995 | |||||||||||||
| 1996 | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | |||||||||||||
| 2003 | |||||||||||||
| 2004 | |||||||||||||
| 2005 | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | |||||||||||||
