By CHAD GARLAND | STARS AND STRIPES Published: May 7, 2021 All corporals and specialists will have the option to take the Army Physical Fitness Test, a move meant to help them “stay on track for promotion” as the service transitions to the long-awaited combat fitness test. The policy came after a review found that a “small number” of fewer than 5,500 soldiers in the E-4 ranks did not have a fitness test of record on file, which made them ineligible for promotion to sergeant, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston said on Twitter. Rather than only let that small number take the APFT, the service chose to “simplify this” by letting all E-4s do so, he said.
The Army Never Should Have Switched to the ACFT
2nd Lt. Allison Vierps, officer-in-charge of the 29th Military Police Company, Maryland Army National Guard, the military police for Regional Command-East, Kosovo Force, pulls a 90-pound sled during an Army Combat Fitness Test 3.0 Certification Course at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, on April 29, 2021. (Jonathan Perdelwitz/U.S. Army National Guard)
6 May 2021 Military.com | By Maj. Lisa Beum
Maj. Lisa Beum is a 2009 West Point graduate who went into the Military Police, transitioned to public affairs, and is currently serving at the Army Cyber Institute at West Point. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense.
OnFocus
Sgt. Savannah Lipinski, a Solider with Recruiting and Retention Battalion, and Sgt. Jacob Lewis, a Soldier with the 54th Civil Support Team, pose for a photo with Command Sgt. Maj. Curtis Patrouille, the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s senior enlisted leader, and Brig. Gen. Joane Mathews, the Wisconsin National Guard’s deputy adjutant general for Army, following the state Best Warrior Competition awards ceremony. Lipinski was named the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, and Lewis is this year’s runner up. Wisconsin Army National Guard photo
Submitted to OnFocus – FORT MCCOY, Wis. A select group of 20 Soldiers in the Wisconsin Army National Guard competed in the 2021 State Best Warrior Competition April 16-18 at Fort McCoy.
After two weeks of instruction and one week of testing March 8 to 26 at Fort Jackson, S.C., three Maneuver Support Center of Excellence drill sergeants successfully demonstrated their knowledge of warrior tasks and battle drills.
2 FORT BLISS, Texas - St. Louis, Missouri native Wesley Langston was promoted to the rank of sergeant in the United States Army Reserve during a ceremony at Fort Bliss, Texas, March 31, 2021.
Sgt. Wesley Langston currently serves as a billeting noncommissioned officer with the 647th Regional Support Group (Forward), Fort Bliss Mobilization Brigade in the facilities section.
The 647th RSG (Forward) assumed authority of the Fort Bliss Mobilization Brigade in January 2021 and is responsible for managing, planning, and coordinating support services related to mobilization and demobilization. It serves as the pre-mobilization liaison for U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers by providing administrative and logistical support prior to, during, and after mobilization.