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Physical Fitness Standards in the Military

Should women be held to the same physical standards as men?

  • The male standard should be lowered

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The standards should be adjusted to meet in the middle

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    35

MarineTpartier

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Should females be required to meet the same physical fitness standards as males? The difference in standards is astounding, no matter what service's standards you look at. This is especially true of the Marine Corps and Army standards though. Below are links to all 4 branches of the military's physical fitness standards.

Marine Physical Fitness | Marine Initial Strength Test | Marines.com
APFT : Army Physical Fitness Test | Army.com
Air Force BMT Physical Fitness Test - Military Fitness - Military.com
Guides
 
Should females be required to meet the same physical fitness standards as males? The difference in standards is astounding, no matter what service's standards you look at. This is especially true of the Marine Corps and Army standards though. Below are links to all 4 branches of the military's physical fitness standards.

Marine Physical Fitness | Marine Initial Strength Test | Marines.com
APFT : Army Physical Fitness Test | Army.com
Air Force BMT Physical Fitness Test - Military Fitness - Military.com
Guides

When it comes to the military? I think they should be held to the same standards. If I were a soldier clearing a house with another soldier, I wouldn't want the soldier who's supposed to have my back to be a 125# gal who didn't have to pass the same physical requirements I did. Just makes sense to me.

When it comes to cops? I think that might be a different story. (Not sure if it is...) I think that way because I think women bring something else to the table in a street confrontation. But in wartime? I want The Terminator on my side. ;)
 
When it comes to the military? I think they should be held to the same standards. If I were a soldier clearing a house with another soldier, I wouldn't want the soldier who's supposed to have my back to be a 125# gal who didn't have to pass the same physical requirements I did. Just makes sense to me.

When it comes to cops? I think that might be a different story. (Not sure if it is...) I think that way because I think women bring something else to the table in a street confrontation. But in wartime? I want The Terminator on my side. ;)

Thanks Mags. Welcome back btw lol.
 
If the standards are important to the task the member would be performing, then the standards should be the same for all involved
 
When it comes to the military? I think they should be held to the same standards. If I were a soldier clearing a house with another soldier, I wouldn't want the soldier who's supposed to have my back to be a 125# gal who didn't have to pass the same physical requirements I did. Just makes sense to me.

When it comes to cops? I think that might be a different story. (Not sure if it is...) I think that way because I think women bring something else to the table in a street confrontation. But in wartime? I want The Terminator on my side. ;)

It isn't so much clearing buildings as it is such things as retrieving a wounded soldier or lugging a couple of ammo cans to a fixed fighting position while under fire.
 
If the standards are important to the task the member would be performing, then the standards should be the same for all involved
Explain further please. I think I know where you're going with this but I want to make sure.
 
Should females be required to meet the same physical fitness standards as males? The difference in standards is astounding, no matter what service's standards you look at. This is especially true of the Marine Corps and Army standards though. Below are links to all 4 branches of the military's physical fitness standards.

Marine Physical Fitness | Marine Initial Strength Test | Marines.com
APFT : Army Physical Fitness Test | Army.com
Air Force BMT Physical Fitness Test - Military Fitness - Military.com
Guides

Military PFTs are not designed to measure how strong or able to do a job, but to measure overall fitness. For jobs that require a certain amount of lifting, or endurance, then tests to measure for that should be standard across gender. For everything else, what is being measured by PFT is the same.
 
They should also meet physical attractiveness standards. We know why they're there.
 
Military PFTs are not designed to measure how strong or able to do a job, but to measure overall fitness. For jobs that require a certain amount of lifting, or endurance, then tests to measure for that should be standard across gender. For everything else, what is being measured by PFT is the same.
So, by this logic, you are acknowledging that women are less capable than men physically correct? For example, a perfect score on the Marine Corps 3 mile run is 18 min for males, 21 for females. So you're saying that at their peaks, men are a half mile better than women. Or, according to pullups, maximum is 20 for men, 8 for women. So women are less than half as capable as men in upper body strength. Is this a correct assertion?
 
Should females be required to meet the same physical fitness standards as males? The difference in standards is astounding, no matter what service's standards you look at. This is especially true of the Marine Corps and Army standards though. Below are links to all 4 branches of the military's physical fitness standards.

Marine Physical Fitness | Marine Initial Strength Test | Marines.com
APFT : Army Physical Fitness Test | Army.com
Air Force BMT Physical Fitness Test - Military Fitness - Military.com
Guides




Hm. At 47 I'm pretty sure I could pass all the req's except the running part. I just don't have the wind for that anymore, and the knee injury doesn't help any.
 
Hm. At 47 I'm pretty sure I could pass all the req's except the running part. I just don't have the wind for that anymore, and the knee injury doesn't help any.

View my other thread on this. You can pass, but you wouldn't be competitive for promotion. That's my issue with this. Females, politicians, etc don't want to see a bunch of E-2 to E-3 females running around that can't get promoted. Physical fitness plays a HUGE role, at least in the Marine Corps, towards promotion. If females were on the same scale, they could meet minimum standard. But that's about as far as it would get. They would all be passed by for promotions over and over and start complaining about the "inequality" of being led by men all of the time.
 
So, by this logic, you are acknowledging that women are less capable than men physically correct? For example, a perfect score on the Marine Corps 3 mile run is 18 min for males, 21 for females. So you're saying that at their peaks, men are a half mile better than women. Or, according to pullups, maximum is 20 for men, 8 for women. So women are less than half as capable as men in upper body strength. Is this a correct assertion?

That is not what I said, no. What is the case is that average level of fitness is different between men and women. FOR is the to measure overall fitness. Therefore it would actually fail to do what it is intended to do if the same raw requirements where had by both sexes. FOR is not designed nor intended to measure capability to do any job.

Edit: Change FOR to PFT in the above. On kindle and autocomplete hates me.
 
That is not what I said, no. What is the case is that average level of fitness is different between men and women. FOR is the to measure overall fitness. Therefore it would actually fail to do what it is intended to do if the same raw requirements where had by both sexes. FOR is not designed nor intended to measure capability to do any job.
Exactly, it is different ie women can't do as much. If you want to go the specific capability route, view the standards for the Combat Fitness Test for us. This is much more accurate for measuring how women would perform in an combat MOS. That standard is even more skewed than the PFT. I'm sorry Redress, but any argument saying that women are as physically capable as men has mountains of science and studies to refute it. Heck, the standards the military puts forth for it's physical fitness standards are based upon science and research themselves.
 
I'm surprised. I thought the standards were higher.
 
Exactly, it is different ie women can't do as much. If you want to go the specific capability route, view the standards for the Combat Fitness Test for us. This is much more accurate for measuring how women would perform in an combat MOS. That standard is even more skewed than the PFT. I'm sorry Redress, but any argument saying that women are as physically capable as men has mountains of science and studies to refute it. Heck, the standards the military puts forth for it's physical fitness standards are based upon science and research themselves.

That is not what I said, nor is it true. There are women who can kick your ass at each event in a PFT. You are making broad generalizations that are incomplete at best.
 
Explain further please. I think I know where you're going with this but I want to make sure.

Not being in the military I am not sure if when one signs up if the duties assigned can be drastically changed during the career in the military.

If one can be a drone pilot and remain a drone pilot for the lenght of ones duty physical standards beyond being able to stay awake is meaningless to the job. But being a Spec Force member requires high physical standards for the safety of the person and the people that person works with. In that case the standards should be strictly enforced
 
I'm surprised. I thought the standards were higher.

I know, right? When I was in grade school, they expected more than that out of 6th graders in PE.

Well, except maybe the running part.
 
I know, right? When I was in grade school, they expected more than that out of 6th graders in PE.

Well, except maybe the running part.


Yeah, the running part is the only thing I might not be able to do (though I'm sure I could train for it).

Women should have no trouble with these requirements.
 
I know, right? When I was in grade school, they expected more than that out of 6th graders in PE.

Well, except maybe the running part.

It seems like every day it comes up how expectations of people were higher when we were younger and expectations from people were lower.
 
Should females be required to meet the same physical fitness standards as males? The difference in standards is astounding, no matter what service's standards you look at. This is especially true of the Marine Corps and Army standards though. Below are links to all 4 branches of the military's physical fitness standards.

Marine Physical Fitness | Marine Initial Strength Test | Marines.com
APFT : Army Physical Fitness Test | Army.com
Air Force BMT Physical Fitness Test - Military Fitness - Military.com
Guides


Yes women should be held to the same physical standards as men. If a 17-21 year old man has to do 42 push ups to get a 60% on the APFT, then so should a 17-21 year old woman and those push ups should be the same exact quality. Standards should not be dumbed down just to get more women in the military,especially now since they are going to allow women into combat MOS's.
 
That is not what I said, nor is it true. There are women who can kick your ass at each event in a PFT. You are making broad generalizations that are incomplete at best.

Is that why they can't perform on equal grounds with men in the field? Remember, its been tried and it failed.
 
Not being in the military I am not sure if when one signs up if the duties assigned can be drastically changed during the career in the military.

If one can be a drone pilot and remain a drone pilot for the lenght of ones duty physical standards beyond being able to stay awake is meaningless to the job. But being a Spec Force member requires high physical standards for the safety of the person and the people that person works with. In that case the standards should be strictly enforced
Marines are all trained as combat personnel - at least they used to be. Any extra rolls they have are just that, extra. My brother was a radio operator and had to carry not only the standard pack with rifle but the radio pack as well.

I can see what you're saying with respect to the Army, Navy, and Air Force but the Marines are a different story.
 
Other: Women have no damned business being in the military in the first place. I won't denigrate the service of anyone who served honorably, but allowing women into the military was a mistake and the more direct combatant roles we allow them to play, the bigger a mistake it's going to be.
 
View my other thread on this. You can pass, but you wouldn't be competitive for promotion. That's my issue with this. Females, politicians, etc don't want to see a bunch of E-2 to E-3 females running around that can't get promoted. Physical fitness plays a HUGE role, at least in the Marine Corps, towards promotion. If females were on the same scale, they could meet minimum standard. But that's about as far as it would get. They would all be passed by for promotions over and over and start complaining about the "inequality" of being led by men all of the time.

You're positively correct. In my previous unit (173rd ABN), you had to have 270 out of 300 in order to hold a leadership position, and if you dropped below that you were relieved. Airborne has the mentality that our leaders should be the hardest mother ****ers in the unit, and the first out the plane.

I know, right? When I was in grade school, they expected more than that out of 6th graders in PE.

Well, except maybe the running part.

Well, passing and excelling are two completely different things. In most combat arms units, if you only pass, you're a piece of ****. You need to have a really competitive score to be respected in the slightest. Most women I knew in the army couldn't even pass by male standards, much less be competitive.
 
In the poll I said "other" because it simply is not reasonable to expect women to have the same physical strength as men, but they do have a role in the less physically challenging aspects in the military.
 
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