Nearly half of female soldiers have failed the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), while only a tiny fraction of their male counterparts fell short of the military standards, a Monday report shows.
The Internal Army figures from April indicate that 44% of women failed the ACFT since its introduction in October 2020, Military.com reported. Conversely, only 7% of male soldiers have not passed the test.
44% of female soldiers are failing compares to 7% of males. But the plank appears to be a big help for women.
— Steve Beynon (@StevenBeynon) May 10, 2021
The reported United States Army Forces Command’s (FORSCOM) data also includes 106,000 ACFT results taken since the start of 2021.
The ACFT consists of six events, with the two-mile run proving the most challenging for both male and female soldiers. 5% of males and 22% of females fail the event, the report says. (RELATED: ‘True Equality Comes From Real Achievement’: Female Army Ranger Says Lowering Standards For Military Women Is A Mistake)
Despite the significant inter-gender disparity, the pass rate for women is up 12% from last year, the report says. This progress is explained by the fact that FORSCOM has allowed a two-minute plank as an alternative to leg tucks. While 41% of female officers fail the leg tucks, only 22% of them fail the plank, according to the data.
The gap in the performance of male and female soldiers is even more striking when considering the statistics on high-achievers. Mere 66 women scored 500 points or higher, as opposed to 31,978 men. A score of 360 is a passing threshold, and 600 is the max, the report says.
The database contains the results of only 27% of women and 36% of men currently enlisted, with 3,400 new fitness tests being tracked by FORSCOM weekly. The current figures are expected to change, as the data gets more complete.