Physical Training- commonly called "PT"- is very much a part of your basic training day. Lights come on at four-thirty AM, with formation for PT at five AM. You may then find yourself running, doing pushups and situps, or even being "smoked" (extreme PT) by the cadet, all in the name of exercise. Though it may be painful at first, PT is in fact something you will learn to enjoy. Each day you can feel your body grow a little stronger, feel yourself stand a little taller. Besides, if you can't do the PT, you'll never get the heck home.
This fact seems to be the motivating factor for most privates. In a series of four PT Tests, personal performance in the areas of the pushup, the situp, and the two mile run are measured against set standards. You must meet at minimum 50% of the ideal standard in order to receive a "go" (i.e. pass). Don't worry if you aren't quite there at first, however: the only test that really counts for anything is the last one. By this point you have trained for nearly two months, and you are strong, able, and ready to rock 'n roll.
Back to Phase One
