Maj. Timothy Cox has recorded the highest score on the new Army Combat Fitness Test, which puts greater emphasis on strength exercises and includes standing power throws, a 2-mile run, hand-release pushups, sprint-drag-carry drills, deadlifts and leg tucks.
The six-event test will become the required standard across the service by October 2020.
“There is going to be a culture change in the Army,” Cox said in an Army statement about the implications of the new test. “I think it has been a long time coming and I am excited.”
Cox, the executive officer for the 22nd Chemical Battalion, took the AFCT for the first time in December 2018 and scored a 587. He improved his score to 595 then 598 and hit 600 in mid-July.
"My physical readiness has been an asset to me. [It] has helped and assisted me. I'm not oblivious to that," said Cox. "Being physically ready is a priority for me, and for us here in the Guardian Battalion, and we fully embrace it."
Gen. Paul E. Funk II called the test a mindset change.
"You don’t need to practice the test,” Funk said in August per the Army Times. “What we want you to do is functional fitness. Work on your core. Work on your endurance. Work on muscle fatigue. All those things that make you much more fit.”
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