Kunsan Airmen push their limits in combat fitness test

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Brigitte N. Brantley
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  The physical rigors of combat sometimes require Airmen to carry an unconscious wingman, move large weights over long distances, and crawl or sprint across fields.

The combat fitness test held at Kunsan Air Base May 2 gave about 40 Airmen from the 8th Fighter Wing a chance to test how they would hold up in such physically-demanding situations.

"We wanted people to be aware of how hard they might have to push themselves in combat situations," said Senior Airman Justin Gordon, 8th Operations Support Squadron survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialist. "With the imminent threat of North Korea, it's especially important here, and the participants did a great job of putting themselves into the tasks."

The CFT is scored on a 300-point system. Women and men perform the same events but are scored on different scales. To become an instructor, an Airman must score at least 270 points on that scale.

The first event is an 800-meter sprint followed by two minutes of lifting a 30-pound ammo as many times above their head as possible.

The maneuver-under-fire portion has them crossing a 75-yard field four times. During the first pass, they sprint, low crawl and high crawl across it, then drag and fireman's carry their wingman back to the beginning. They then lug two 30-pound ammo cans across the field, pause to throw a simulated grenade and do three push-ups, then carry those cans back.

Many of the Airmen participating had never done an event like this before.

"This test helped me get in the mindset that we really need to take physical fitness seriously and be 'ready to fight tonight,'" said Senior Airman Emerald Twiggs, 8th OSS intelligence analyst. "I pushed until I couldn't anymore and by the end, I was tired and out of breath. It's definitely an effective way to test how prepared we are."

The reasons Airmen gave for participating in the CFT varied from wanting to test their own limits to taking on a new challenge.

"My co-worker Tech. Sgt. William Vargas challenged me to come out here and see if I could handle it," said Master Sgt. Jesus Reyes, 8th OSS air traffic control watch supervisor. "He thought he would beat me because he's younger, and he didn't think I'd be in such good shape."

Both Twiggs and Reyes said the maneuver-under-fire portion was the most difficult, and both plan on doing it again in hopes of beating their score.

Gordon invited all Airmen to come out and test themselves at the next one scheduled for July.