FORT STEWART, Georgia -- Leaders of the Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, walked Soldiers through each event of the Army Combat Fitness Test Jan. 31 on Legion Field at Fort Stewart to familiarize them before the new test is implemented later this year.
Headquarters Support Company's first sergeant, 1st Sgt. Kenneth Godwin, took the lead in explaining each event as Sgt. Travis Smith, HSC, HHB, 3ID, demonstrated the exercises to the Soldiers and leaders in attendance. Smith also showed Soldiers the ways that the events are commonly missperformed.
"Myself and Sgt. Smith thought this was the best time to get maximum dissemination of this information out to everybody," Godwin said. "This is an individual readiness task."
Godwin informed Soldiers of alternate resources to work on to prepare for their record ACFTs down the road.
There is an official app Soldiers can download for the ACFT.
The Army PRT mobile application, Godwin said, breaks down the instruction of each event and the gives the scoring scales based on military occupation specialty.
The free updated app offers Soldiers exercises, tailors PT programs, and allows participants to calculate their scores, said Lt. Col. David Feltwell, Center for Initial Military Training physical therapist, in an Army news release.
The ACFT Calculator and Resources was created "by Soldiers, for Soldiers," as the description on the app suggests. The calculator allows users to input their logistical information for an accurate calculation of their score.
The test will become the army physical test of record no later than October 2020, according to army.mil/acft. Active-duty Army, Reserve and National Guard Soldiers began taking not-for-record ACFTs in October 2019.
The ACFT is meant to better connect fitness with combat readiness for all Soldiers, according to the U.S. Army website.
The events are a three-repetition maximum deadlift; a standing power throw; a hand release push-up - arm extension; a sprint drag carry; a leg tuck and a two-mile run, according to army.mil/acft.
The new ACFT is physically challenging according to Godwin.
"Practicing these events in sequence will really shock your body," Godwin said.
Smith was not being timed during the demonstrations, but after completing all events, he admitted he liked one, in particular, over all the others.
"I like the leg tucks," Smith said. "It's not easy; it just really makes you dig deep after doing the other four events."
During the familiarization, Godwin, as well as other leaders experienced in the ACFT, answered Soldiers' questions and addressed any misconceptions of each event. Soldiers were allotted time following the familiarization brief to try out the different events themselves.
For information, tips and resources regarding the ACFT, visit www.army.mil/acft.
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