This was the second idea for incorporating Military Working Dogs –and Griffin the Corgi, seen in panel 3– into an obstacle course scenario. It dovetails nicely into a current situation actually facing the Army.

For years, we’ve had a “PT Test”, the APFT or Army Physical Fitness Test, that consists of push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2-mile run. The scores you get are modified based on age and gender. The PT test has been a source of discontent for a long time, since it is widely felt that it does not give a good portrayal of overall fitness, and that the age and gender modifications do not reflect realistic standards.

The Army is currently replacing the APFT with the ACFT, or Army Combat Fitness Test. It is, if I remember correctly, made up of a dead-lift, a set of modified push-ups, a series of back-and-forth sprints or “shuttle runs”, a leg left while hanging from a pull-up bar, and the same 2-mile run. The age and gender brackets are eliminated, and replaced with different brackets for job field: combat arms soldiers have to score higher, while rear-echelon troops can score lower.

Of course, BOHICA Blues takes place “a few years ago”, before the ACFT was rolled out, but why let that limit us? We can have a physical fitness test or obstacle course that even eliminates the different standards between Human soldiers and Military Working Dogs! All for one and one for all, right?

“Now git out there and FETCH, sojer!”