Is anyone here involved with the new Cadet Physical Fitness Program beta testing?
- Does anyone have a good explanation as to how the Pacer works? It looks like a shuttle run.
- Some cadets have expressed concerns that they are just making the test easier to pass so more people join, do testers feel it is easier or just different?
Have you gone to google/youtube, and searched for Pacer run videos?
No, just watched the Webinar on eServices which did not really explain it well. YouTube is not my first thought for looking for info on CAP issues, especially something not yet formalized. I figure a community like this is more likely to have members who are actually in the beta testing units.
Pacer seems to be a well established program outside CAP. The YouTube videos are a good source of information.
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Quote from: LSW on July 13, 2016, 05:28:27 PM
Is anyone here involved with the new Cadet Physical Fitness Program beta testing?
Yes
Quote
- Does anyone have a good explanation as to how the Pacer works? It looks like a shuttle run.
It looks like a shuttle run because it is. However, where the previous shuttle run essentially agility and acceleration, this one tests endurance; which is much more appropriate if we're going to use it as a substitute for the mile run.
Quote- Some cadets have expressed concerns that they are just making the test easier to pass so more people join, do testers feel it is easier or just different?
While the test standards are somewhat easier, the test overall is still effective in its purpose. The old test was created/updated in the mid-00s based on data from the 70s which could no longer be applied to today's youth with any reliability. The new standards are based on current statistical data as well as setting a standard for healthy living, not making track and field stars.[/list]
The PACER (15 and 20 meter variants) was adopted by CAP but has been in practice for years. There are plenty of YouTube videos with demonstrations as well as the PACER, sit-up, and push-up cadences. Don't try to do the PACER without the recorded cadences; it's a real pain to get correct. The new system aligns with the idea that none of the previous PT examinations were evidence based. This system is geared towards exercises that correlate with a healthy lifestyle if certain measures are attained. With that in mind, many of the requirements are going to be easier if the shift was from escalating difficulty to healthy lifestyle. As proof of this shift in mindset, the requirements only advance with age, not with promotion and age. The Spaatz Exam is the exception and is aligned with the USAFA entrance PT test.
I personally like the new program. We can have a wide variety of PT activities and then once per quarter administer the test. A passing score is good for 6 months so if cadet jimmy misses the next PT test he will not be held in grade for 3 months.
The actual standard isn't really much "easier", per se, but the lack of requirement for making the standard concerns a lot of people.
It's clearly a retention play, and has been indicated specifically as such by NHQ staffers, whether or not that is a good thing is TBD.
With no requirement to make a standard until Wright, the presumed thought is that cadets will be invested enough by then
to stick with the program and perhaps adjust lifestyle to make the standard, those with issues will pile up at Feik instead of
Curry. It'll take a couple of years to know if this was a good idea, and whether retention, per se, is more important then the objective standard.
It's one thing to change the standard to "other" in favor of activities that academic community feels are more appropriate, but another thing
to drop making a number altogether. A valid question is whether this would have been done if CAP weren't hemorrhaging cadets with a churn as high
as 41% a year.
Once fully implemented, there will be a 1-2ish year period of normalization where cadets wearing the same grade will not
have met the same standard, that won't necessarily engender team spirit among the younger cadets who tend to struggle as it is.
The risk longer-term is older cadets piling up on Feik as younger cadets pass them up because they can make PT. Instead of an "equal corps",
where everyone has done the same thing to earn the same thing, you'll have this dichotomy.
Another unforeseen consequence is encampments - with PT no longer a barrier to entry, you could assume encampment participation
would increase (my unit, for example, has / had at least 4 cadets this year who would have attended but could not make the mile for Curry),
the issue, however is how that may influence PT during encampments. Assuming Curry as the standard, every cadet at an encampment should be able to
run a reasonable morning mile, etc. Now that will no longer be the case.
As I've said before, my first thought on this program was "oh, cool, maybe we won't lose so-and-so..." which then made me pause to think that
was the opposite of what a program with objective criteria is supposed to be about.
Thank you for the input folks, much appreciated. The cadets keep asking and we keep telling them it is not official yet so hurry up and wait.
If our Pacer is not different, then I guess YouTube will be my next stop. No one in our group was aware it is something well known, I just heard the name in the video and it looked like a shuttle run. The shuttle run is before my time and Pacer looks like what they are not supposed to do so the questions start flying. A couple cadets need the test for promotion so want to work on it the next two meetings so they can have the test after that. Naturally they start asking about the new standards so I am seeing what I can find on the upcoming changes.
Again thanks for the input. I will let them know that it is more designed for results rather than simply making it easier.
Cheers!
Google "Draft 52-18" and take a peek at the differences in the sit-ups and the PACER as well as the new quantitative standards.
Is your unit officially enrolled in the Beta?
Quote from: Pace on July 13, 2016, 06:54:51 PM
The PACER (15 and 20 meter variants) was adopted by CAP but has been in practice for years
I also just realized it is 15-20 meters... but a mile run rather than Kilometers. The cadets were just discussing this Saturday, about the Military/CAP/ USA not being able to decide one or the other. In the Army we shot at a range dressed in meters but we ran miles. Of course in the late 70's/early 80's they told us in school we would be switching to the Metric system, I came back to the state after 25 years in Germany and was is still not metrics.
Quote from: Eclipse on July 13, 2016, 07:26:36 PM
Is your unit officially enrolled in the Beta?
If you mean me, No, that is why I was hoping someone here may be. The cadets just know there is a new standard in the works and naturally want to know about what it means for them.
The pacer exercise can be quite deceptive. We had a lot of cadets start as if it was the shuttle run, and it took them several laps to get into the rhythm with the audio track. Once they were into it, it became a real contest since we were running six at a time. The cool thing is those not running became a cheering corps for those running, so lots of motivation opportunity in a small space.
The curl ups are a challenge. What I've done is crafted a number of slats of scrap wood 4.5" x 32" that can be taped down. The cadet lays down and slides their body forward until their finger tips can touch the board. When they start, the cadet curls their shoulders upwards, lifting their hands lightly and then sliding forward till they touch the other side of the board then return. It's much easier to maintain proper position with the fixed board as their guide.
The push ups remain a challenge. The audio tracks available from YouTube are a must for all exercises, and the cadets have to listen and pay attention to the timing. The pushups are not easy since they can't touch the ground and rest.
The evaluation chart in the document is key to let the cadets know their standing, and to keep a running tally as they progress. What is needed, and it's easy enough to craft one, is a comprehensive score sheet for the CPFT that can be issued to the cadet at the completion of the event for their own records. And actually, in the new beta document, it looks like the CPFT was added as almost a passing gesture and is scattered through the document, not even a set chapter and mislabeled as an appendix.
There is nothing preventing running the new CPFT more than quarterly, you just have to record the scores once a quarter, consistently.
The sit and reach can be a bottle-neck if you only have one box. Make several to help things go faster with lots of cadets.
I like the new program, but it can be a challenge fulfilling the 'physical activity' aspect every month.
Quote from: LSW on July 13, 2016, 07:28:25 PM
Quote from: Pace on July 13, 2016, 06:54:51 PM
The PACER (15 and 20 meter variants) was adopted by CAP but has been in practice for years
I also just realized it is 15-20 meters... but a mile run rather than Kilometers. The cadets were just discussing this Saturday, about the Military/CAP/ USA not being able to decide one or the other. In the Army we shot at a range dressed in meters but we ran miles. Of course in the late 70's/early 80's they told us in school we would be switching to the Metric system, I came back to the state after 25 years in Germany and was is still not metrics.
The track at our local AFB is a 200M track, but there are marked start and stop lines for the statute mile run.
Quote from: LTC Don on July 13, 2016, 07:43:53 PMThe track at our local AFB is a 200M track, but there are marked start and stop lines for the statute mile run.
My Army 1 mile run was around a graveyard, how is that for motivation. ;)