In order to earn the title of United States Marine, you must pass a series of physical fitness tests. If it were easy, anyone could do it. Every Marine is required to maintain a high level of fitness regardless of age, gender, or Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). The Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test, or PFT, is administered to Marines annually and scores are used to calculate promotion points. PFT scores are calculate to a maximum of 300 points, 100 for each exercise. Each additional pull-up, for example, is worth 5 more points towards your promotion. And there is no excuse for not being able to execute 100 crunches in 2 minutes. If you are only exercising to the minimum standards, perhaps the Marine Corps is too much of a challenge for you!
Physical Fitness Test
Every Marine is required to pass the PFT once each year. PFT scores are also calculated into promotion scores, so if you don’t want to be a PFC forever, you’ll want to max out your PFT score as much as possible. The minimum PFT scores are:
[one_half]
Males
Pull-ups: 3
Crunches (2min): 50
3 mile run: 28:00[/one_half] [one_half_last]
Females
Flexed-arm hang: 15 seconds
Crunches (2min): 50
3 mile run: 31:00[/one_half_last]
The maximum PFT scores for Marines are:
[one_half]
Males
Pull-ups: 20
Crunches (2min): 100
3 mile run: 18:00[/one_half] [one_half_last]
Females
Flexed-arm hang: 70 seconds
Crunches (2min): 100
3 mile run: 21:00[/one_half_last]
In addition to the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test, Marines are required to take the Combat Fitness Test, a combination of 880 meter run, ammo can lift, and maneuver under fire obstacle course. Details can be found here.
