New fitness policy won't leave Airmen out in the cold

  • Published
  • By Shawn J. Jones
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  In the event of extreme weather, a new policy from the 4th Air Force allows Freedom Wing Airmen to be exempt from the run at the wing commander's discretion.

Before the new policy, Airmen would perform the run assessment at the indoor track at the Griffith Field House on the Fort Dix side of the installation. Only eight Airmen can test on the indoor track at one time, and some testing sessions involve well over 100 Airmen. This led to extremely long testing sessions.

"We simply could not afford to lose our folks for an entire day due to fit-to-fight testing," said Maj. Walt Kruk, the wing's fitness program manager.

Airman learned first-hand about this new policy during the Jan. 21 - 22 unit training assembly, in which the run portion of the assessment was canceled due to ice on the track.

The weather waiver policy may work against some Airmen, especially those who do relatively well on the run and not-so-well on the other components. When Airmen are exempt from performing a portion of the assessment, their score is calculated by dividing total points earned by the total possible points of the remaining components. So if the 60-point run is eliminated, the total score will be based on 40 points, meaning Airmen would need at least 30 accumulated points to pass (30 รท 40 = 75).

In addition to the scoring changes, Kruk want to highlight several other fitness-related issues.
  1. Assessments begin at 8 and 10 a.m. on both days of unit training weekends. Airmen who arrive after an assessment begins will not be permitted to participate.
  2. Airmen who arrive without a fitness questionnaire signed by their unit fitness program monitor will not be permitted to participate.
  3. Deployed Airmen will be exempt from mandatory fitness testing, though they may take the test on a voluntary basis.
  4. Airmen who receive an unsatisfactory score are expected to attend Operation Finish Line from 3 to 4 p.m. on Saturday of the training weekend.
  5. Airmen who score above 90 in an assessment in which the run was exempt are not granted the one-year retest date typically given for scores above 90 and must retest within six months.
  6. It is the individual Airman's responsibility to ensure a retest is taken within 90 days of an unsatisfactory fitness assessment.
  7. Commanders will be encouraged to pursue administrative discharge of Airmen who receive four unsatisfactory scores within a 24-month period while failing to demonstrate significant fitness improvement.
  8. The wing is actively seeking new physical training leaders to assist with administering the fitness assessment. Interested Airmen should contact their unit fitness program monitor.