Physical fitness, back when I was in the Army, had nothing to do with being able to function as a Soldier.
Somebody at the Pentagon decided that the Army needed to look at physical fitness. They sent a memo to all the commanders asking for their input.
I wrote back and told them to interview combat veterans from around the world and get their opinions on what level of fitness was necessary to be an effective Soldier.
Here is how the Army made the decision on changing from the 5 event pt test to the 3 event pt test.
“What’s the cheapest thing we can do and still have a means to kick people out?”
Yep. The 3 event pt test was brought in because it was cheap. You just need some grass and two miles of road.
When the Army started deploying people to Kuwait for DESERT STORM, the people who failed the pt test and/or the height/weight standard were still deployed to Kuwait and fought in the war.
There were no pre-deployment pt tests or weigh ins.
Everybody went. To combat.
The real purpose of the pt test and height/weight screening is to provide the military with an easy way to kick people out of the military.
If they needed to reduce the number of Soldiers in the Army, they would reduce the time allowed to run two miles in the pt test.
This has left us an Army of cross country runners who can’t win wars.
When they sound retreat it makes it less likely there will be no man left behind. Or, if they tell them to stay the course they know to run the other way.
Seems "fit" for today's typical military runaround BS.