Now troops get fitness test NOBODY can fail SURRENDER
WHEN the British Army decided d to drop its famous ‘ Be the Best’ motto because top brass felt it was too elitist, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson stepped in to save it.
Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal that troops taking an important new fitness test won’t be able e to fail it.
A leaked document reveals that t he current Personal Fi t ness Assessment (PFA), in which soldiers must reach certain targets to achieve a pass and therefore be eligible to go to war, will be replaced next April by the ‘Soldier Conditioning Review’ (SCR), for which there is ‘not a pass or fail’.
The document states: ‘The SCR is not a critical test, but results may indicate the need for personnel to attend additional fitness training (ie remedial training).’
Unlike other tests, the annual SCR will apply to all regular and reserve personnel and may include activities such as a 2km run, 30m sprints, pull-ups, vertical jumps, deadlift and seated medicine ball throw.
While the document describes the SCR as an ‘in-service diagnostic tool’ intended to rank fitness levels on a scale of one to ten and as such be an improvement on the PFA, critics suspect the change has been driven at least in part by the need to retain existing personnel and attract new recruits.
Three years ago, statistics released under Freedom of Information rules revealed more than 2,400 forces personnel had failed their annual fitness test, including 7.5 per cent of the Army.
Figures also showed that almost 10,000 forces personnel had a body mass index of more than 30, officially classing them as obese.
Unlike the PFA, the new fitness testing regime will not make allowances for someone’s gender or age.
Announcing the new tests earlier this month, Field Army Sergeant Major Gavin Paton said: ‘I don’t care if you are a man or a woman. I don’t care what you do, and the enemy doesn’t either.’
As well as being forced to backtrack on plans to ditch the ‘ Be the Best’ motto, the Ministry of Defence has been accused of softening its ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on drugs to stem the loss of recruits.
Earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday revealed how military commanders are allowing drug-taking troops to remain in their regiments despite failing as many as three compulsory drug tests.
There was further controversy earlier this year when the new head of the Armed Forces, General Sir Nick Carter, threatened to block the promotions of thousands of officers unless they improve the ‘ inclusiveness and diversity’ of their units.
The move was described as ‘politically correct claptrap’.
An Army spokesman said: ‘Soldiers have to meet demanding fitness requirements and that is not going to change.
‘Anyone failing to meet the Army’s high fitness standards will, as before, have to undertake remedial training. Using a one-to-ten scale provides a better indication of overall fitness.’