Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan — During the past month, 14 selected units of the Marine Corps have been testing the Marine Corps' new combat fitness test (CFT). The test is designed to more closely replicate the physical demands of combat and augment the Marines' physical fitness test, according to Marine Corps officials.
The new CFT includes events such as carrying a fellow Marine, high crawling, throwing a mock grenade and running with ammunition cans. The CFT will not be conducted with the semi-annual physical fitness test.
As one of 14 selected test units throughout the Marine Corps, Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment 3 (CLR-3), 3rd Marine Logistics Group, have been testing the new CFT. Representatives of the Training and Education Command from Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA, will use feedback from the unit to help determine the CFT's setup and standards.
Recently, CLR-3 leaders discovered they needed to modify their morning physical training sessions to better prepare their Marines for the physical demands of the CFT.
“We didn't want to run the test without preparation,” says James Bounds, the operations officer for CLR-3. “We've got to change the mindset of just doing a 3-mile run, 100 crunches and 20 pull-ups for morning physical training. We have to get away from the usual and start doing more dynamic events. You have to train your muscles to do different types of exercises by building not only strength but endurance.”
Marine Corps officials are still deciding whether the CFT will be a semi-annual or annual requirement and whether the course should be 200 or 300 yards. Officials also haven't determined if the CFT will be a pass/fail event or if it will be based on a point system.