“We will promote, evaluate and build off of the ACFT,” he continued, referencing what the Army uses to identify soldiers for promotions. The “idea that gender neutral is equal to gender equality is a false narrative,” he wrote on Twitter. Griest isn’t wrong: Most soldiers seem to agree that it makes sense that infantrymen would need more intensive physical training than, say, a chaplain or a dentist.īut it’s not that simple, as Col. The suggested changes to the ACFT, which were first reported by Task & Purpose, included removing special requirements for some military occupational specialties (MOS), but Griest argued that doing so would result in low standards that “will not suffice in reality.” Martin later tweeted that he never intended for it to come across that way. Army Training and Doctrine Command, who took the opportunity to have a little fun with the ACFT discussion, which some saw as downplaying concerns over one of the hardest events of the test, the leg tuck. Those concerns have been well established, which is why the Army was looking to tweak the test’s scoring process. But others took issue with the dismissal of legitimate concerns over the test’s overwhelmingly negative impact on women. Her article immediately set the online military community ablaze, with many concluding that additional changes to the ACFT are unnecessary and soldiers just needed to buckle down and train. She focused specifically on combat arms jobs like infantry and artillery, saying “gender-based scoring could drastically reduce the performance and effectiveness of combat arms units.” In her article, Griest zeroed in on the test’s supposed gender-neutral standards and the recent news that the Army is considering scoring soldiers on a gender-specific, service-wide percentile, instead of grouping men and women’s scores together. “Failing to do so will further marginalize women in these units rather than protect them, and will hurt the Army rather than prepare it.” “However, once the Army determines the right standard to which soldiers should train, the final version of the ACFT should hold men and women in combat arms to it equally and should maintain branch-based minimum standards. “As the ACFT is validated over the next year, there will likely be studies, phases, revisions, and alternate exercises,” Griest wrote in an article for the Modern War Institute at West Point. Kristen Griest, one of the first women to graduate from the Army’s Ranger School and the first female infantry officer, reignited the debate over the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) on Thursday with an article criticizing Army plans that would separate soldiers’ test scores by gender. The Army, like the rest of the armed services, is working to right years-long wrongs that military officials say have hurt women’s careers, even if unintentionally.If you thought the Army was anywhere close to coming to a consensus on its new fitness test, think again.Ĭapt. New moms will now have 365 days, up from 180, to meet the Army’s body fat standards, the service announced Friday. ![]() The changes come days after the Army also announced changes to the service’s policy for postpartum soldiers. “While it may be difficult for a 120-pound woman to lift or drag 250 pounds, the Army cannot artificially absolve women of that responsibility it may still exist on the battlefield,” Griest wrote. Those job-specific requirements are now gone. Rather than only completing one leg tuck, for instance, an infantry hopeful would have to complete five. ![]() ![]() Originally, the ACFT had higher standards for soldiers who wanted to be in combat jobs, like infantry. Kristen Griest, who is also one of the first women to graduate the Army’s Ranger School. “Lower female standards also reinforce the belief that women cannot perform the same job as men, therefore making it difficult for women to earn the trust and confidence of their teammates,” wrote Capt.
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