Army Mulls Returning to Gendered Fitness Standards over Complaints of 'Lopsided' ACFT
25 May 2021
Military.com | By Steve Beynon
The Army is considering adding gender-specific standards to its new Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT, after early data shows nearly half of female soldiers can't pass the test and might face being removed from service once it becomes official next year.
Service officials, including Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, testified before a House Appropriations Committee subpanel Monday that scores may end up being separated by gender to identify the 1st, 10th, 25th and 50th percentile of soldiers.
In practice, this could mean men and women still would have to meet the same standards but would not be compared to one another. Physical fitness scores are heavily considered in promotions, especially in combat-arms jobs such as infantry and cavalry.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/05/25/army-mulls-returning-gendered-fitness-standards-over-complaints-of-lopsided-acft.html
