Improved PT program hopes to inspire healthier lifestyles among Airmen Published June 25, 2009 By Jennifer Kleinhenz Air Combat Command Public Affairs LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNS) -- Beginning in January 2010, Airmen will see some changes to the current physical training program including having two tests per year, a different waist measurement standard and a new score chart. These changes are being implemented in order to promote better fitness standards among Airmen. "The status quo is only as good as today, and we need to grow as a force both in terms of capability and capacity and that all starts with fitness," said Chief Master Sgt. Steve Sullens, the Air Combat Command command chief. "This is an opportunity to help ourselves through good old fashioned attitude, personal investment and discipline." "I like the fact we will be testing twice a year now," said Senior Airman Ashley Martinez, a food services worker at the 1st Force Support Squadron. "I think we all need to be aware of where we stand as far as physical fitness. Some people don't even know if they will pass the day before they take their PT test." The new score chart will require Airmen to receive a total score of 75 or higher in addition to meeting the minimum requirements for each of the four areas. "We'll never have a force that's 100 percent, and that's really not what we're striving for here. We're just creating a scale that talks a little bit of something to everybody," Chief Sullens said. Other changes directly affect the actual fitness test itself. More emphasis will be placed on the aerobic portion, now totaling 60 percent of the test. The body circumference measurement will be de-emphasized and remain at only 20 percent of the final score. Finally, crunches and pushups will remain at 10 percent each. However, Airmen will have to meet a minimum requirement for each of these two areas, due to the fact in the past some could pass the test without doing any at all. "This new program will allow us to focus on some of the things we may have missed in the first go around, re-emphasize some of the more important aspects of the program and allow everybody to participate in a year-round program like they should be," said Master Sgt. Mike Skaggs, the ACC fitness and sports representative. Along with changes to the fitness test, administration of the test is also being changed. The newly updated Air Force instruction, with an anticipated July 2009 publication, calls for civilian proctors to administer PT tests at locations called fitness assessment cells. Chief Sullens said he believes these fitness cells will rid the testing administration of its subjectivity. "A disinterested person is checking you; someone that is not vested in your chain of command," Chief Sullens said.