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it seems to me that the article was ambiguous about the facts surrounding Waudby's case, and this leads to the debate surrounding his case. i am currently a Cadet at West Point, so perhaps i can clarify some of what the article left out. the army physical fitness test (APFT) is taken by all cadets each semester. the standard test is push-ups, sit-ups and a two mile run. in certain circumstances the test may be altered to accommodate injuries or certain athletes, but these exceptions are rare. certain football players and cadets recovering from serious lower body injuries (e.g. a blown out knee) must still take the alternate test, which still consists of push-up, sit-ups, and stationary bike test. i am not certain of the standards for the bike test, but they are certainly available on-line. bottom line, the APFT at west point is administered just as it is in the army, and cadets must meet the same minimum standards as in the army, or they are separated from the academy (in case you were wondering, Army regulations say that the only person who may "pace" somebody during the PAFT must themselves take the whole APFT). i hope this clarifies some of the confusion over the frequency of the APFT.
there also seems to be some confusion about Waudby's exceptions to the APFT. like i said earlier, he had to take the test each semester unless he was injured. i am friends with a number of football players, they have always known (from the time they entered the academy or prep school) that after the last football game of their senior year they would no longer be able to take the bike test, and would have to complete the standard APFT with push-ups, sit-ups, and a two mile run. the last football game of every year is the Army-Navy game, played the first weekend in December, every year. similarly, the spring semester APFT is administered in mid-April, every year.
the last bit of confusion stems from the question of whether the APFT is a graduation requirement or not. cadets are rated in three areas, academics, military performance, and physical performance. cadets must attain a 2.0 GPA in each area in order to graduate. since cadets are also commissioned upon graduation they must meet the army's commissioning standards in order to graduate as well. commissioning requirements are established by the Dept. of the Army, and include passing the APFT.
the last point of confusion is why waudby was allowed to take the bike test. all football linemen are allowed to take the bike test, until their spring semester APFT during their senior year. Waudby is the first person i have heard of who failed this requirement. i know several football players, all of whom graduated on time after passing their spring APFT the first time. this is not to say that losing the weight required to pass the APFT is easy. like i said, i know several football players and have seen how hard it was for them to cut weight, but they did it in time. Waudby was given more opportunities than most other cadets to pass the APFT, and did not meet the standards. ask anybody in the army, they will tell you it is a standards-orineted organization, and should be. Waudby was even given more opportunity than other cadets to pass the APFT. if a cadet fails an APFT he is retested on the APFT in 90 days. if he fails that test he is considered for separation from the academy. while i am not familiar with eh details of Waudby's case, it appears that he failed the spring APFT, failed the 90 day retest, and then was given one more opportunity and failed that as well. i hope this long post helps clarify some of the ambiguity created by the article.

I'm sorry. But the article did cover the requirements you mentioned. There was no confusion about that.

The debate here was on whether he should be made to reimburse the scholarship.

Waudby was only required to do the bike because the school didn't want him to lose size. He past his academics, sit ups and push ups as stated in the article.

No one here was debating whether he should have graduated or gone on to officer. The confusion was why he is being held to reimburse the scholarship since West Point did modify the standards for him.

...a number of football players, they have always known (from the time they entered the academy or prep school) that after the last football game of their senior year they would no longer be able to take the bike test, and would have to complete the standard APFT with push-ups, sit-ups, and a two mile run.

That changes everything. If he knew all along that he would have to complete the 2-mile run after his last football season ended, then his situation is solely his own fault. The article made it appear that his situation was something that was just "sprung" on him. Thank you for the information.

Oh...welcome to FR.