Pvt. Harvey Denson with Combat Logistics Regiment 3, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, lifts an ammunition canister during a combat fitness test while Marine Corps' Training and Education Command representatives evaluate the unit March 25 on the Camp Foster parade field. (Photo by Lance Cpl. David Rogers).

TECOM officials first selected CLR-3 as a test unit for the fitness test after Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway directed the creation of the CFT in November 2006.

CLR-3 was the 12th of 14 units evaluated Marine Corps wide by the TECOM team. The recorded scores of all units tested will contribute to the standards of the final version of the test. TECOM officials have been adjusting the CFT standards and procedures over the past four months, and they continue to improve it with every stop on their tour, said Col. Brian McGuire, officer in charge of the combat fitness test development.

"We're not just taking the objective data from the sites that we've been to in terms of scores," McGuire said. "We're also getting solid objective feedback from every single Marine who has taken the test, because at every stop along the way, we discover something that makes the test better."

McGuire individually asked each Marine for their input after they completed the course and recorded those findings, which may lead to more improvements.

In the current CFT format, the participating Marines ran a half-mile as fast as possible and lifted ammunition canisters above their head as many times as possible before running a "maneuver under fire" course. Throughout the test, the Marines had to sprint, crawl, carry simulated casualties, run with ammunition canisters and accurately toss a practice grenade.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Rodney Brown, the logistics chief of CLR-3, praised the CFT for its contribution to a wider spectrum of physical fitness.

"It was definitely one of the hardest things I've done in the past six months," Brown said. "With the sprints you get the aerobic affect. With the lifting of the ammo cans and the fireman's carry, you get more of a weight lifting perspective. But I think it is pretty much all encompassing as far as all the different types of physical challenges that are out there."

According to McGuire, the exercises of the CFT are primarily anaerobic, which means they focus on muscle strength during short durations of physical exertion.

"And that really reflects the feedback that we've gotten from our combat veterans," McGuire said. "The physical demands in combat are characterized by short intense bursts of physical activities with undetermined rest patterns. The tests that will be incorporated will be more functional as they relate to the demands of combat."

The CFT is not intended to replace the PFT, but there are plans to have it linked to promotion. However, it has not yet been determined how that will be implemented, he said.

McGuire did however dispel the rumor that the CFT and PFT will be run on the same day.

"That's not going to happen," McGuire said. "This test is very rigorous from an anaerobic perspective. Though we want to compliment the PFT, we don't want it to be on the same day."

The final version of the CFT is scheduled to be implemented into the Marine Corps in June.