Starting this year, able-bodied active and Selected Reserve Coast Guard members will need to work out at least four days a week, no excuses.
The goal is to prepare Coasties for mandatory physical fitness tests set to begin July 1. Previously, the service only required that most personnel pass a physical test in boot camp and officer training.
In a Coast Guard-wide message published Thursday, the service established its new Physical Readiness Program, or PRP, which includes frequent physical training, twice a year fitness testing and body composition standards for all members.
The announcement follows a message published last year that required Coast Guard men and women to take physical fitness assessments, providing them a baseline for meeting the physical standards being adopted this year.
“The Coast Guard is becoming a more agile, capable, and responsive fighting force,” wrote Read Adm. Charles Fosse, deputy commandant for personnel, in ALCOAST 007/26. “The readiness of the Service starts with the individual readiness of every Coast Guard man and woman.”
Under the guidance, all Coast Guard members must be given time during the duty day to exercise at least four days a week unless they are on medical restrictions or have mission requirements that prevent them from working out.
The training can be individual or part of a unit, and commanders are encouraged to regularly schedule crew events, which are a “key part of building unit cohesion and esprit de corps,” Fosse said.
Service members then must take a final physical fitness assessment no later than June 30 to prepare for implementation of their first physical fitness tests, or PFT. PFT scores will factor into future assignments, promotions and program selection, according to the announcement.
Roughly 25% of Coast Guard members have been required to take annual physical fitness tests to qualify for their jobs, including boat crews, rescue swimmers, law enforcement and tactical units.
The service’s new PFT is based on physical requirements set for boat crews, including planks, pushups and a 1.5-mile run with an option to substitute a 2,000-meter row or 12-minute swim instead of a run, with time or distance requirements for various age groups.
Debate over whether the Coast Guard should have a service-wide PFT rose sharply after Sept. 11, 2001, when the Coast Guard broadened its security and anti-terrorism forces, requiring high physical standards for those serving in specialty units.
Increased use of the Coast Guard in domestic and foreign operations by the Trump administration, along with a new strategic plan, Force Design 2028, which calls for increasing the size of the force by 15,000 and ensuring that operational units are fully manned, led to the service’s decision to implement fitness standards.
According to the message, officers of the rank of captain and above, and enlisted master chief petty officers and above will be required to take the physical fitness assessments; their scores will be kept in a seperate tracking system, according to the message.
And while civilian Coast Guard employees are not required to participate, they are encouraged to use the resources available to them to maintain fitness and can participate in unit activities if they desire.
Coast Guard members already required to take a PFT for their positions will be able to take the service fitness test and the physical test mandated by their units to meet the biannual requirement.
This option is similar to one implemented in October by the Defense Department by Secretary Pete Hegseth, who instituted twice-a-year fitness tests for U.S. troops, including existing service tests and combat field tests for combat arms personnel, or combat readiness or a second service test for non-combat forces.
Coast Guard officials said that details regarding implementation of the Physical Readiness Program, including performance standards adjusted for age and sex, will be released within 60 days.
Last September, Lt. Cmdr. Steve Roth, the service’s chief of media relations, told Military.com that personal readiness is a cornerstone to readiness of the force.
“This assessment, along with an increased emphasis on physical fitness, is an investment in their well-being and their ability to effectively execute our vital missions and remain ready to meet the evolving challenges of the 21st century,” Roth said.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.
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