TOP STORY>>EOD smokes new experimental PT test

By Staff Sgt. Jacob Barreiro
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Most Airmen are used to the 1.5 mile run for a PT test, but how many would do it with 50 pounds strapped to their back?

Nine Airmen from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight at the Rock did just that… twice!

While Air Force leadership has placed an emphasis on physical fitness in the Air Force, most Airmen couldn’t be blamed for balking at a test that included running 3 miles, toting large weights and scaling a 6 foot wall, all with a 50 pound pack.

Airmen from the EOD career field know they may be expected to perform physically challenging tasks, but the Air Force is considering implementing a new, more dexterous PT test for them.

The new test, developed by Air Force Special Operations Command, could become a standard in the EOD career field, although nothing is certain. Right now AFSOC’s plan is to try and establish a realistic and repeatable test to measure the fitness of EOD Airmen.

Each Airman is required to complete the experimental test in 75 minutes, and the 9 base EOD Airmen exceeded expectations, with the fastest performing the test in 39:13, and the last coming in at 55:10, nearly 20 minutes ahead of the standard.

Staff Sgt. Warren Long, an EOD technician, finished first and credited the unit’s ability to complete the test so handily on such short notice to their high standard of training.

“We only found out about this test two weeks ago,” he said. “We were told that we were going to do it at the last minute, but our regular PT is intense enough to keep us prepared and everybody finished way above the standard.”

Long, given a joking ice-container coronation by his peers after finishing, said the experimental test was vastly different and more challenging than a traditional Air Force PT test.

“This, or something like it, needs to be the standard PT test for our career field,” he said.

The components, designed to test the Airmen’s strength and endurance, include: a 1.5 mile ruck, a wall climb, a 100 meter “jerry carry” where the Airmen must transport two giant water jugs, a 50 pound simulated robot lift, where the tester must move a 50 pound box to and from the ground four times, a 6 foot wall climb and a final 1.5 mile ruck, all with the 50 pound backpack on (although testers are given the option to remove their 50 pound backpack and throw it over the wall instead of scaling the wall with it on.)

While AFSOC could use this experimental test for EOD Airmen, it’s not intended, nor capable, of replicating a real-life EOD operation. The test is simply meant to provide a more realistic standard of physical fitness for Airmen in special operations career fields. If the test were to become a standard, it could undergo some tweaking based on the early test results. For example, if every EOD Airman is able to handily finish the test before the 75-minute time limit, as all of the testers at Little Rock did, then the test could be altered.

For now, the Rock’s EOD Airmen view it as just another test.

“I feel like going to sleep,” joked Long after completing the test. “But seriously, this is really just another day for us. We always have and always will go above the standard with PT. After this we’re going to get cleaned up, get some breakfast and get back to work.”