Staff Sgt. Matthew Zimmer pumps out as many push-ups as he can during the physical fitness portion of the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Challenge at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. (Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)
ARLINGTON, Va. — For the first time, whether Air Force personnel passed their fitness tests will be a part of performance reports — a crucial part of the promotions process.
The Army, Marine Corps and Navy all include physical fitness documentation as part of their personnel evaluation forms.
Senior Air Force leaders have included the change as part of an overhaul designed to streamline officer and enlisted performance reports, in order to eliminate busywork and reduce the time it takes to fill them out.
The change reflects the service’s increased emphasis on physical conditioning, sparked in 2003 because then-Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper was worried his force was not physically up to the demands of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Air Force changed its fitness program in January 2004, requiring airmen to pass an annual test with running, sit-ups and push-ups, instead of using a stationary bike.
Leaders also decided at the time to make pass/fail documentation of the fitness test a part of airmen’s evaluations — but not before giving the force adequate time to adjust to the new standards.
Now that time has arrived, Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, deputy chief of staff, manpower and personnel, told reporters Wednesday.
“I must admit I’m pleasantly surprised at the positive reaction I get from audiences when I talk about putting fitness on the form,” Brady said.
“I think they’re proud to be a fitter force than perhaps we’ve been in the past, and they don’t mind seeing it on paper,” he said.
But Air Force leaders decided not to go the route of the Army and Marine Corps by reporting actual fitness scores on the reports, Brady said.
“Our promotions system is incredibly competitive,” Brady said, and inevitably, any kind of fitness ranking would become the deciding factor in close promotion races.
“Fitness is important, but do you want it to be the deciding factor?
“The goal is fitness,” Brady said. “The goal is not how many push-ups you can do.”
The pass/fail box “tells the supervisor and the commander that [an airman] is fit, but at the same time, it doesn’t make hanging out at the gym and doing push-ups the most important thing in your life,” Brady said.
Overall, both the officer and enlisted performance reports have been considerably shortened, Brady said.
Personnel officials have eliminated information such as the “unit mission description” and “impact on mission areas” on the officer’s form, Brady said.
The new performance report and performance feedback worksheets will be available on the Air Force e-Publishing Web site at www.e-publishing.af.mil.
