On the Equivalence of Control Exercises of Physical Training Standards to the Tabular System for Evaluating the Physical Fitness of Military Personnel and Their Adequacy to the Requirements of Combat Activity

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the adequacy of the standards of physical training of soldiers of the Ground Forces to the requirements that are objectively imposed on the physical fitness of soldiers by the content, nature and conditions of modern combat operations, as well as their equivalence to the tabular evaluation system; determine the possibility and expediency of their use in the educational process to assess the physical fitness of cadets. Materials and methods. To achieve the goal, a complex of general scientific research methods was used. The methods of theoretical analysis, synthesis, systematization, generalization of available information and practical experience were used to argue the main provisions of the research, generalize the available data, justify the place and role of control to ensure the effective functioning of the system of physical improvement of cadets of higher military educational institutions. The main material of the theoretical analysis was scientific articles and guiding documents on the management of physical training of military personnel of the leading countries in the military field of the world. Preference was given to printed official documentary materials, scientific articles and textbooks related to the development of methods for checking and assessing the physical condition of military personnel. Results and discussion. When assessing the physical fitness of the same cadets at the same time using the exercises of the standards of physical training of the Ground Forces soldiers and according to the requirements of the Physical Training Manual, radically opposite results were obtained. In accordance with the requirements of the standards, 100% of the personnel completed the established standards of control exercises and received a rating “completed”, and the physical readiness of the unit was rated “ready”. When assessing the physical fitness of cadets in accordance with the requirements of the 2021 Physical Training Instructions, only 53 cadets (42.4%) received positive evaluations, the remaining 72 cadets (57.6%) did not score the required 80 points in one or more exercises and, accordingly, received an unsatisfactory rating. The physical training of the unit according to the requirements of the 2021 Physical Training Instructions is also rated unsatisfactory. Conclusion. The norms of control exercises of the standards of physical training of servicemen of the Army of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not equivalent to the norms of the tests of the tabular system for evaluating the physical fitness of servicemen, and their availability to cadets whose physical fitness is assessed as unsatisfactory according to the tabular system indicates their inadequacy to the requirements of combat activity for the physical fitness of servicemen. They do not allow obtaining reliable information about the level of physical readiness of personnel to perform combat tasks. Thus, their use in the educational process of physical education and special physical training to assess the physical fitness of cadets of military academies is inappropriate