question for CPFT beta testers.

[Vegas1972]

Is the PACER / 1 mile run an absolute "OR" option or do the cadets have the opportunity to try the 2nd run event if they don't pass the first.   I wasn't around when the shuttle run was offered as an option so I don't know how that option was handled.   I know the other "2 out 3 events" must all be attempted but I'm guessing the run events are a hard "OR"?

How did the Beta Test units handle it...was that addressed in any of the provided info from NHQ?  It doesn't seem to be addressed in the draft 52-18 itself anywhere that I've seen so far.

Also, if I give the test every 3 months...and a cadet passes reaches the hfz in Jan, retests in April and fails does not reach hfz...is his "credential" still good till July (six months from last passing score)?


Thanks!

[Spaceman3750]

We're a beta test unit. I would say if they fail one and pass the other then that's a pass, but I don't have the reg in front of me. When in doubt or lacking regulatory guidance, I err in favor of the member.

The HFZ cred is good for 6 months regardless of whether or not they fail any subsequent tests.

[Eclipse]

+1 - we just reviewed the new program as part of changeover and there's nothing that says
you can't bust one and do the other, but you really should be giving those tests more then once a quarter.

We're going to try the Pacer for snicks, but generally stick with the mile unless someone is struggling
or specifically requests it.

Assuming our math is correct, the pacer start at about a 12 second  minute mile pace and increases to about
a 9:33 at the high end for 18yro, which should allow all but the most marginal cadets to progress all the
way through Earhart, which is clearly the intention and fine by us, but isn't going to prepare them at all
for the rude-awakening of the 6:30 Spaatz mile.

If a cadet really wants Spaatz, and isn't on a Cat-waiver, the have to be running regularly by Phase III

[FTFY; 300 mph is a little speedy for most cadets]

[Spaceman3750]

I should add that we've found our cadets hate the Pacer. We don't even run it unless someone asks.

[TheSkyHornet]

I should add that we've found our cadets hate the Pacer. We don't even run it unless someone asks.

I've seen the same hanging around a unit that conducts the Pacer more than the mile. I believe they recently started going back to the mile as their standard run and then conducting the Pacer based on a fail rate or something...not quite sure where the logic was.

Overall, I'll seen cadets hate the Pacer. And it's actually not easy. But I think it's very difficult for them to train to and calculate a run time, whereas with the mile run, it's a pretty solid-to-understand goal.

Our problem with the Pacer is finding a place to conduct it that doesn't have as much potential to get interrupted by vehicles or aircraft. We've got an area that's usually pretty empty and definitely gives us the room, but it still doesn't negate the fact that there may be a plane in the vicinity, and that will halt the exercise. Plus, finding somewhere to do it in the winter time. Our local Rec Center has a nice indoor track (which very few people have a mile run problem in the track indoors...and it's likely if they can't pass on that, they can't pass the Pacer either). We do not have much room in the icy season for a Pacer (which essentially needs a gym floor/basketball court).

I'll be the whiny one when it comes to the new test, since I was not an advocate of it. I get that it's not going away, though. But I'll continue to mope on the side.

[Eclipse]

The Pacer takes either double the time or twice as many people as well.

Neither is a resource CAP has in abundance.