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Story and photo by Will Ravenstein
1ST INF. DIV. PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley completed a course to become certified graders and test officials for the new Army Com¬bat Fitness Test from July 30 through Aug. 1.
Two personnel from the ACFT-Mobile Training Team instructed the Soldiers on the details of setting up the course and grading the test.
The Soldiers had to take the ACFT themselves be¬fore learning how to administer it.
“I think that opened our eyes more and made us pay attention,” said Sgt. 1st Class Amanda Bailey, 1st Inf. Div. Sustainment Brigade. “In¬stead of teaching us and then having us go through it. I think that added a lot of value to it.”
The train the trainer mentality of the course allowed the level-three instructors to direct questions to the ACFT-MTT instructors, while teaching Soldiers the proper way to grade and set up the ACFT course.
“This is going to help us immensely … we don’t have a lot of [master fitness trainers],” said Staff Sgt. David Rogge, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.
Each of the different certification levels have responsibilities and limits as to what they can do.
A level-one ACFT grader completes a three-hour validation training and has the knowledge, skills and ability to:
• Validate a testing location
• Validate the testing equipment to standard
• Grade the six ACFT test events to standard
The level-one grader may be used to familiarize their unit with the ACFT and prepare Soldiers to take the test or receive training from level-two graders.
“I think this helps out a lot because I know that they’ve gone through the training,” Rogge said. “It’s a much more effective test, but it’s going to take much more planning and coordination.”
Level-two graders complete a two day validation training and have the knowledge, skills and ability to:
• Complete the functions of a level-one grader
• Serve as a testing officer in charge or NCO in charge to run a unit ACFT
• Administer a 90-day re¬cord ACFT
• Train level-one graders by providing the three hour validation training
Level-three graders complete a three-day validation training and must hold the Master Fitness Trainer certification. Level-three graders have the knowledge, skills and ability to:
• Complete the functions of both level-one and two graders
• Train ACFT level-two graders by providing the two day certification training
“Level threes really get three days’ worth of training,” said Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Brown, ACFT-MTT, Fort Eustis, Virginia. “We talk about the overall grading and the responsibilities of the NCOIC, OIC. Their job is to then go back and produce level twos and level ones and really familiarize their Soldiers with the ACFT itself.”
The ACFT is still in a fielding phase with standards and expectations almost set for the Oct. 1, 2019 launch date. The ACFT-MTTs are ensuring that the latest information for the program is relayed to units, Brown said.
“Because … it’s in a field test phase and we are still kind of tweaking those standards right now,” he said. “So, our job is to let these level threes know if there is any new in¬formation. Also, they can be using their ACFT Field Manual to still keep those standards in line during the field test. We also have things avail¬able right now, like the
army.mil/acft microsite so Soldiers can go on there, look at those standards so they are aware of them right now.”
Soldiers should refer to Field Manual 7-22, “Army Physical Readiness Training,” or army.mil/acft for ways to train and prepare for the implementation of the ACFT. Fort Riley Soldiers can also refer to the 1st Infantry Divi¬sion Post newspaper section, Form Matters, to see examples of beneficial exercises. Soldiers can expect to take the ACFT no later than October 2020 when it becomes the Army physical fitness test of record.
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.29.2019 23:38 |
| Story ID: | 335166 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 3,403 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Soldiers certified as Army Combat Fitness Test graders, by Will Ravenstein, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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