MrBlue said:
I agree with your point, but I have to play devil's advocate and add that, when was the last time someone non-combat arms had to march 13km or more besides on operations/ex, etc??
I would love to know where they got this distance from, and what the significance of it is.
I agree that there needs to be a difference in the fitness testing for Combat Arms vs. everyone else. No arguments there.
In the Parachute Regiment the '10 miler' is the standard march, to be completed within 2 hours. This distance evolved from the need to move quickly from a drop zone to a target to do the business. 10 miles was the usual distance, apparently, because airplanes are big, easy to spot from the ground, noisy things and we like to try and sneak up on the bad guys as much as possible. This standard has been in place since WW2. On P Company they cover other distances too, such as the 20 miler, as standard tests. Battalions sometimes completed an annual 50 miler, in fighting order, with all weapon systems including MILAN and mortars.
In the UK they used to have an 8 miler, carrying personal weapon and 35lbs in fighting order, to be completed in 1:30 or something like that. In the Cold War days the rationale was that you would debus out of range of the (Soviet) enemy's BM-21 systems, then head into the combat zone on foot. There was also a 2 miler, to be completed in 18 minutes carrying the same load, which apparently simulated the need to move quickly within the combat zone. The 1 1/2 miler was to be completed in 10
The Royal Marines have a 4 miler, 12 miler and 30 miler on their commando course. These have been the same tests since WW2.
IIRC SAS selection week keeps the 20, 35 and 45 milers, all completed consecutively within 4 days carrying 55lbs and personal weapon.
In Canada we used to have a 2 x 10 miler. Not sure about the rationale there.
The Norwegian Army uses a 5, 10, 20 and 30km (in under 4 hours) ski biathlon, carrying 15kg rucks and personal weapon, as their basic combat arms test.
But, apart from history and some cold war era logic, I'm not sure what the rationale has been for those distances other than ensuring that those tested are put under enough stress to figure out if they are ready for some kind of battle.