Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego -- Recruits of Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, conducted a Combat Fitness Test at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Sept. 25. The event consists of an 880-yard run, timed 30-pound ammunition can lifts and a maneuver under fire drill.
The CFT is a training requirement for all recruits as well as an annual requirement for all Marines. It is conducted in the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform and boots to simulate combat environments. There are three events in the CFT, each worth 100 points, leading to a perfect score of 300.
The first event of the CFT began with recruits running the 880-yard timed run. Wearing combat boots makes the sprint around the track difficult for some recruits. The purpose of the run is to simulate moving quickly through a combat situation. In order to gain 100 points on this event, recruits must complete the run in 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
The second event was the ammunition can lifts, which weigh 30 pounds and were used to conduct overhead presses. Each recruit performed as many presses as he could in two minutes, attempting to reach 91 repetitions to achieve a perfect score of 100.
The final event of the CFT was the maneuver under fire. The maneuver under fire is a course that covers 75 yards, which requires recruits to perform exercises such as sprints, ammunition can carries, fireman’s carry and throwing a simulated grenade at a marked target. Recruits were timed as they ran through the course and needed to finish it in 2 minutes and 14 seconds to receive 100 points.
“The CFT tests combat endurance and engages the recruits physical and mental strength to keep pushing forward when you’re exhausted,” said Staff Sgt. Robert C. Weinhardt, drill instructor, Platoon 3253.
The initial CFT is taken in first phase of training, but it is just to familiarize the recruits with the course. The final CFT is taken toward the end of training and is recorded in their basic training record.
Recruits have to fight through the fatigue, push their bodies to new physical limits and block out the pain, explained Weinhardt, a West Deptford, N.J., native.
“We have to prepare the recruits for combat endurance and physical performance,” said 31-year-old Weinhardt.
Recruits are put through several physical training sessions leading up to the final CFT to prepare them explained Weinhardt.
“We have been training since we first got here to the depot,” said Recruit Adian Brambila, Platoon 3253. “Marines have to be combat oriented with their physical fitness and mindsets.”
Brambila did not earn a perfect score, but he explained striving for that will be a goal of his.
“Having a good mindset and training harder is the key to coming back stronger and obtaining a perfect score,” said Brambila, a Smith River, Calif., native.