Long considered one of the military’s most harsh leadership courses, the Army’s Elite Ranger School has deployed a new physical fitness assessment designed to better measure the durability and strength required to complete the course.
The revised standard debuted in Ranger School Class 06-25 from April 21st, marking the culmination of many years of development and improvements. Students will be evaluated on the first day of the course. Previous assessments focused on individual gradual events, but the new version is structured as a continuous assessment of the candidate’s ability to maintain high-intensity physical movement.
Instead of isolated, step-by-step events, Ranger School students generally spend a short time running two runs and various movement drills, along with the physical fitness test of professional badges. The review concludes with a long run and a chin lift.
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“new [assessment] Ranger Course executives can assess the ability of potential ranger candidates to withstand the physical strength involved in Ranger Courses and reduce risk during the course,” Army spokesman Jennifer Gunn said in a statement.
The new fitness measurements consist of the following events wearing standard Army combat uniforms and boots within 14 minutes.
- 800m driving
- 30 Dead Stop Push Ups
- 100m sprint
- Event where students lift 16 40-pound punching bags onto a 68-inch platform
- A 50-meter farmer’s carry, consisting of two 5-gallon water cans, each of which is 40 pounds.
- A 50-meter movement drill consisting of a 25-meter high crawl and a 25-meter 3-5-second rush
- Another 800m ride
Once these events are completed, students will be changed to physically fit uniforms and run for 4 miles within 32 minutes. After running, the soldier lifts his chin six times.
Previously, students at Ranger School experienced a special fitness test consisting of at least 49 pushups over two minutes. I had 59 abs in two minutes, six chin-ups, and five miles in under 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, the service is in the midst of revamping the Army Combat Fitness Test or ACFT. The Army is facing a required deadline for Congress to adjust standards for testing combat armed soldiers by June.
Service planners are currently pondering different ways to shift score criteria, with multiple Army officials with direct knowledge of the plan telling siremert.com whether to add or take away events.
Ranger School is a 62-day infantry leadership course based in Fort Benning, Georgia, open to the military of each service.
Related: How do you measure it? Here’s how soldiers score on the Army Combat Fitness Test:
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