MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII – “America expects its Marine Corps to be the most ready when the Nation is least ready,” said General Robert B. Neller, 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps. “There are significant adjustments to the Physical Fitness Test and Combat Fitness Test scoring tables, requiring most Marines to demonstrate greater performance to meet the new minimum and maximum standards. We will monitor the effects of these adjustments for two years and then adjust if required to ensure our standards continue to contribute to the effectiveness of our force and enhance our ability to respond when our Nation calls.”
Implemented on Jan. 1 of this year, the new PFT standards raise the bar for physical fitness. Pull-ups, crunches and the 3-mile run remain in the core test, but now all Marines will have the option of doing pull-ups or push-ups, but a maximum score can only be reached by doing pull-ups.
Marines with Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, conducted a PFT with the new scoring system aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, March 14, 2017.
A major change to the PFT is that Marines will be able to run it as many times as they want and the last score they receive will stay until the next test is conducted.
Cpl. Richard Flores, a training non-commissioned officer for Headquarters Bn., was responsible for scoring the Marines during the PFT.
“The PFT has been adjusted to reflect the changes for the 2017 fiscal year,” he said. “Some of the changes include more pull-ups for males, and females are required to do pull-ups versus the flexed arm hang. In addition, push-ups have been added as a replacement for doing pull-ups for less points. At age 46, Marines can opt out of the run and instead utilize a rowing machine.”
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Photo courtesy of Cpl. Kirstin Merrimarahajara/ released
