Army Ranger School Introduces New Fitness Assessment
Elite training programs within the military often evolve to meet the demands of modern warfare, and the Army’s Ranger School is no exception. Known for its rigorous standards, the school is now implementing a new fitness assessment to better gauge a candidate’s endurance and strength, essential for successfully completing the course.
The updated assessment is set to launch with the Ranger School class 06-25, starting on April 21. This change represents the culmination of extensive development and refinement efforts. Unlike the previous format, which evaluated individual tasks separately, the new assessment will continuously measure a candidate’s ability to maintain high-intensity physical performance from day one.
In a departure from isolated events, Ranger School candidates will have a limited window to complete two runs and various movement drills, in alignment with the expert badge physical fitness test. This series of challenges concludes with a lengthier run and chin-ups.
“The new [assessment] will allow Ranger course cadre to assess a potential Ranger candidate’s ability to endure the physical intensity involved in the Ranger Course, thus reducing risk during the course,” stated Army spokesperson Jennifer Gunn to Military.com.
Participants will don the standard Army Combat Uniform and boots, completing the following within 14 minutes:
- 800-meter run
- 30 dead-stop push-ups
- 100-meter sprint
- Lifting 16 40-pound sandbags onto a 68-inch platform
- 50-meter farmer’s carry with two five-gallon water cans, each weighing 40 pounds
- 50-meter movement drill, including a 25-meter high crawl and a 25-meter 3-5 second rush
- Another 800-meter run
Following these events, candidates will switch to their physical fitness uniforms and complete a four-mile run within 32 minutes, culminating in six chin-ups.
Previously, the Ranger School fitness test required at least 49 push-ups in two minutes, 59 sit-ups in two minutes, six chin-ups, and a five-mile run within 40 minutes. This was essentially a more challenging version of the obsolete Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT).
As the Army continues to adapt its fitness evaluations, it is currently revising the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), with a congressionally mandated deadline to update combat-arms soldiers’ standards by June. Planners are considering changes to scoring criteria and the potential addition or removal of certain events, according to multiple Army sources.
Ranger School, a 62-day infantry leadership course located at Fort Benning, Georgia, is accessible to service members from all branches.
