Cadet PT Uniforms

[Spam]

There are a couple of very good reasons to have a white (or light) colored Squadron T shirt for PT:  one, a black unit T during hot weather simply isn't as good a choice as white in terms of heat loads, and two, a white unit T shirt is far better for safety (visibility) while running a mile after dark on fall/winter/spring PT nights.

V/R,
Spam

[Panzerbjorn]

Yes, we allow them to wear them if they've earned them.

Hopefully ONLY while doing PT, as CAPM 39-1 specifically states that a black t-shirt "will be worn under the BDU shirt."

The Rangers typically want to run that extra 1/2 mile, so we let them.  No harm in it.

What is everyone else doing while they wait for the "Rangers" to finish their "esprit de corps" extra 1/2 mile?

On second thought, the discussion is not worth it. Let's get back to PT uniforms.

Did I at any time mention that they wore the orange t-shirts beyond PT?  As you said, stick to PT uniforms.  I agree it's not worth discussing what my cadets are doing for the 3 to 5 minutes it takes to run a 1/2 mile unless you're dying to know exactly the method the scores are recorded and what cheers the cadets are doing in the course of that five minutes.

[Storm Chaser]

Negative. Cheers!

[Panzerbjorn]

I was having a bad day, and my response was much snottier than it should have been. I apologize.

[Ned]

All:

The NCAC is responding to a request from the national leadership for their opinion concerning PT uniforms, concerning which -- as been correctly noted here --  the 39-1 is largely silent.  Cadets engage in a vigorous physical fitness program and typically spend a significant amount of their time engaged in sports and other fitness activities, including the CPFT.

The NCAC's collective wisdom will be very helpful as we determine what -- if any -- changes to make to the 39-1 and related doctrine on this issue.  It sounds as if the NCAC has decided to seek additional input from cadets and other stakeholders on the issue before providing their advice to the Gen Vasquez.

Which is exactly their job, and it appears that they are doing it well.

Perhaps someone from the NCAC will publish the results of their survey here.


Ned Lee
National Cadet Programs Officer

[Майор Хаткевич]

What of the rumors of trying to remove PT from being an active component of the progression system? Is that shelved?

[Ned]

What of the rumors of trying to remove PT from being an active component of the progression system? Is that shelved?

I think we have a thread or two on this issue somewhere.

The issue is that we are being forced to change the CPFT because we based our test on the widely-used Presidential Fitness Test, which in turn was based on real-world testing and data for young Americans in our age cohort.

But the Presdient's Council has discontinued the old test and it is no longer supported.  Their new test, the PYFP is far more holistic and includes things like a body composition measurement.  Ultimately, the results of the assessment do not include anything resembling a numerical score, but rather simply assigns students to one of three "zones:" the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ), the Needs Improvement Zone (NI), or the Needs Improvement - Health Risk Zone (NI-HR).

So we have engaged in a conversation with our cadets and other stakeholders about modifications to the CPFT, and absolutely no decisions have been made.

As part of that conversation, we have been discussing whether it is a good idea to de-couple specific achievements and promotions from a PT test.  There are several  considerations at play - first, if the whatever the new CPFT winds up being, it might take longer to administer.  And that would impact time available at the unit.  It might make more sense to treat PT like we currently treat Character Development -- as long as a cadet has passed (the new CPFT) in the current quarter, they are good to go.

As you can imagine, there is not yet anything approaching a consensus on the way forward.

(And if it helps, in my Army career my promotions were not tied to specific scores on the APFT.  As long as I had hit the minimums (and not subsequently flunked) sometime in the last six months I was good to go.  Also, the longer I was in the Army, my standards actually went down since old guys didn't need to be as strong or fast as the young folks.)

So we have a lot of conversation ahead of us.  But no decisions have been made.  No changes are pending.  We are still figuring it out, and welcome any and all input.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Thank you for the clarification. I knew there were talks, but not their extent.

[Storm Chaser]

I was having a bad day, and my response was much snottier than it should have been. I apologize.

No need to apologize. It's just CAP Talk. Hope your day got better.

[PHall]

I was having a bad day, and my response was much snottier than it should have been. I apologize.

Which is why it's a really good idea to not post if you're mad at someone/something.
Walk away and come back later. We'll still be here!

[Capt Thompson]

Incidentally, Vanguard does sell the ash grey "Leisure" t-shirt, blue shorts, gray hoodie etc. If I'm not mistaken, in the old bookstore catalog these items were identified as the PT Uniform, I'll have to dig one out and see. The only time I've ever actually seen them in person was at Encampment, a few cadets had them then.

When I was a cadet, we had a "Cadet Basic Uniform" that we had all of the new cadets wear, which consisted of a black t-shirt (needed eventually for BDU's anyway) and blue jeans (everyone has them). That allowed the new cadets to have a uniform look until they could acquire BDU's and Blues. For PT the jeans became black shorts, so that's what we always used. We did have changing facilities, but usually stayed in PT's for the whole meeting, we just planned activities accordingly. After PT would be drill, then maybe an ES class outside, and an outdoor AE class (rocketry or some other outdoor project).

Vanguard sells the ash gray PT's for $9.20 for the t-shirt, $16.20 for the sweatshirt, $21.60 for the hoodie and $24.50 for the blue shorts. If we did ever have an official PT uniform, which I doubt we ever will, I'm assuming this would be the uniform chosen, since these items have been around for at least 20 years.

[Salty]

I just picked up the ash grey shirt with the plane on the back and the navy blue shorts from VG for just that reason actually.  Absent an official PT uniform I figured the leisure stuff from VG would fit the bill when I participated in PT with the cadets in my squadron.  Might as well wear officially branded clothes for official activities.