The Perceptions of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) by Female Army Officers on Event Physical Effectiveness and Assessed Practicality of the Assessment’s Scoring System

During nine years of active-duty service in the United States Army as an Officer, it has always been abundantly clear that there are discernable differences between male and female soldiers, which is amplified when you compare their physical abilities and performances. With the development of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), set to replace the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT), it was a concern from Congress to the US public what would the impacts of this test change would be on the careers of service members. The female US Army Officer population was underrepresented in both the beta testing and in the development of the ACFT events. This survey investigated the perceptions of these women on individual event effectiveness and the ongoing revisions of the scoring systems. Overwhelmingly, this survey showed the efficacy of many of the events in which the desired targeted skills were not being evaluated and that a gender based scale was required so as not to have a biased or unfair test of physical abilities.