I'm all for higher standards of physical fitness. I could pass the Marine PFT right now at 65. I maxed it out back in 1980. I could get the push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups pretty easy, but I always had trouble with the 3 mile run. No trouble finishing, but trouble getting anywhere near 18 minutes.
We had this native American kid in our platoon. I think he was Navajo. The DI's called him "Red Stick." We all did too. This was before everyone was sensitive about race. Anyway he was a runner. The kid could run like the wind. So on the last day we had the opportunity to max out the test and give it our best shot, I had already maxed out everything else. We lined up for the 3 mile run and a walked up beside Red Stick and I told him, "I'm going to stick like glue by your side today and I'm either going to die or I'm going to finish this run in under 18 minutes." He was a very quiet kid like Native American's can be, but he looked at me laughed and said, "Good luck white boy..."
I finished the run in 17:58 maxed out the PFT. I ended up getting a meritorious promotion out of it too, based on that and serving as a squad leader in 2nd and 3rd phase.
There is no better feeling that the feeling of accomplishment you get by pushing yourself and getting the job done.
So it's not a mountain to climb, especially if serving is your full time job and you are getting paid with benefits for it.
