SAN ANTONIO, TX – In an unprecedented maneuver, the United States Air Force has decided to modify its Physical Training Test to include taping under stomach folds during the waist measurement portion of the test. The move comes after years of complaints alluding to sexual harassment, unfair testing, and improper measurements.
“Truth is,” says Senior Master Sergeant Harry Shneidman, a physical medicine specialist, “most airmen these days have some type of abdominal pouch.”
The old regulation stated that the “tester will locate the measurement landmark immediately above the right uppermost hip bone (superior border of the iliac crest) at the side of the body vertically in line with the right armpit (midaxillary line). If desired, Airmen may assist the tester in locating the measurement landmark by resting the right hand on the hip, using rearward facing right thumb to locate the iliac crest.”
Many airman have been confused that the wording of these directions alludes to large stomachs being the so called "measurement landmark."
