How Important is Rucking for SFAS?
Rucking is Critical to Success at SFAS
The first step to enlisting with an Army 18X contract to become a Special Forces Green Beret is to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). But does passing or even maxing the APFT with a perfect 300 score mean a candidate is prepared for Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS)? The answer is absolutely not!
In fact, there are several studies dating back three decades which outline the greatest predictors of success at SFAS – 1990, 2010, and 2019. And each of them found that the greatest predictor of success is rucking performance, not APFT scores.
Rucking Performance and Selection Rate
2019 Study
According to the 2019 study, “Physical performance, demographic, psychological, and physiological predictors of success in the U.S. Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection course”, candidates in the bottom quartile of rucking performance in their class have a 10% selection rate at SFAS. Candidates in the top quartile of rucking performance had a 65% selection rate. Rucking accounted for about 64% of the variation in SFAS outcomes. In comparison, run times accounted for about 25% of the variation in SFAS outcomes.
In the 2019 study, 247 out of 800 candidates were selected (31%).
2010 Study
According to the 2010 study, “The Roles of Perseverance, Cognitive Ability, and Physical Fitness in U.S. Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection”, the researchers identified the physical fitness attributes above as predictors of success at SFAS. As was found in the 2019 study, rucking performance was the strongest predictor, accounting for about 52% of the variation in success at SFAS, while running accounted for about 17% of the variation in outcomes.
1990 Study
In the 1990 study, “Physical Performance Predictors of Success in Special Forces Assessment and Selection”, the researchers state, “The Ruckmarch was a better predictor of success in SFAS than the APFT, with an average correlation across 3 fiscal years of .42″
Conclusion
The data is clear: Rucking is not only important for success at SFAS, it is actually the most important factor for success at SFAS. But this begs the question, how is that candidates with great run scores are bad at rucking? How does one improve his rucking capabilities? Review our next post – predictors of rucking success for information.
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