Operation Phoenix, Part One

The United States Marine Corps was designed to be the most elite conventional military unit in the world. As such, logic follows that expectations of members of this force would be reasonably high in all areas relevant to the duties that they must perform. And yet the physical fitness requirements for these men and women are laughable.

Every six months, a marine must take his Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and earn a minimum of 135 points in three different exercises in order to pass (for now we will look at only the men's requirements). These three exercises are a max-out on pull-ups, as many sit-ups as possible in two minutes, and a three mile run, all of which needs to be completed within a two hour time frame. The maximum possible score in each exercise is 100 points; 5 points are awarded for every pull-up, 1 point is awarded for every sit-up, and 1 point is deducted from a score of 100 for every 10 seconds over 18 minutes the marine takes to complete his three mile run.

Not only does this result in a pathetically minimal set of requirements for an elite fighting force(one could pass with 3 pull-ups, 40 sit-ups, and a 21:20 three mile run), but the form of the test does not in any way follow the function of these men and women's fitness. Surviving in modern combat, especially in the towns and cities of Iraq that are the arenas of today's battles, demands a fitness program that consists of intense, highly functional and highly varied movements performed both at bodyweight and with external load.

This is where Crossfit comes in. Crossfit is already quite popular among the military and law enforcement agencies; there are over 750 affiliated gyms world-wide, and nearly every Marine in the United States has easy access to a Crossfit gym either on-base or close by. However, the benefits of Crossfit have still not been fully and officially recognized and exploited by the Marine Corps. And this is where Operation Phoenix comes in.

To be continued...