What is an average Air Force ROTC fitness score?

[wperry722]

Hey Everyone,
I am a decently fit guy and I have trained a bit over the last few months (nothing crazy, but a few sets of push-ups and sit-ups each day and runs periodically). I have been working specifically to improve on the Air Force ROTC Physical Fitness Assessment. What is a standard or average score for the test?

On the scoring rubric, the Air Force states that a "passing" score is 75 and that anything over 90 is considered "excellent." I can currently score a 97.3. Although I am in pretty good shape, I am not an exceptional athlete and I did not expect nearly this high of a score. I am curious about what a normal score is because it feels as if I was able to reach such a high score far too easily. I have been careful about using the correct form for push-ups and sit-ups (with a video to monitor myself post-event), so the explanation cannot be that I am inadvertently cheating.

I'm wondering if the scores are inflated (i.e. most people are in the 90+ range). I haven't seen the Air Force publish anything about this, and I am very a bit puzzled about what the situation is. As I have been advised by wise members who know the process, I am not attempting to play the "comparison game;" I am mostly just curious and mildly confused.

 

[Thunderbolt462]

The Air Force doesn't really expect a whole lot in terms of fitness from the average Airman. If you run a few times a week and do some push ups and sit ups every day, there's no reason not to get above a 90. That's why failing a fitness test in the Air Force is a pretty big deal. However, I will say the closer you get to 100 the more effort is required. You can get a 98.5 and still need to shave an entire minute off your run to get a 100, even if you max everything else. So getting above a 95 is an "attaboy" while getting a 100 might actually help you stand out in the program.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you're in ROTC, you have mandatory workouts and the fitness test is something that you constantly focus on working towards. You usually take the test as a unit as well. On active duty, it's usually done on an individual basis. Also, not every squadron has mandatory unit PT either. It can be easy working long hours and focusing on tasks for work to let fitness slip your mind if you're not careful.

Finally, you'll notice Air Force jobs that require a higher level of physical fitness require a specialized PT test in addition to the regular one. Fighter pilots take something called the FACP while spec ops and battlefield Airman have a whole bunch of job-specific tests. The standard Air Force test is basically to make sure you're at the minimum fitness level to be a member of the US military. If you're actually in any kind of shape, you're going to excel at the test.

 

[MullenLE]

The only mark you need to be concerned with, is your mark...in anything. ALWAYS do the best you can. Seeing as you got to 97.3, just go the extra 2.7 and max it. It then makes all else irrelevant