Introduction

Passed my PJFT (Pre-joining fitness test) 4th March 2011 with the scores:

2.4km run: 9m48s
Press ups in 60 secs (requirement = 40) : My score = 49
Sit ups in 60 secs (requirement = 41) : My score = 50

Next up is PGSC (Potential Gunner Selection Course) which is a 3 day course at RAF Honington which involves A LOT of hard physical exercises for the purpose of sorting out who really wants to be in the raf regiment.

Not only will you have to meet the requirements, you will be competing with around 30 other people who also want to be in the regiment, so you need to stand out from the crowd.

The tests (completed over a period of 2 days, 3rd day is classroom stuff):
Bleep test (req. 10.5)
Max press ups in 60 seconds (req. 40)
Max sit ups in 60 seconds (req. 41)
Swim test (req. swim 100 metres and tread water for 2 minutes fully clothed)
Skirmish - the RAF will not tell you what is involved in Skirmish, the purpose for this is to push you to your physical limits without knowing how much more you will have to do/how long you will have to keep pushing yourself, much like a real war situation. (it involves doing races carrying very heavy objects, crawling, a lot of press ups, a lot of sit ups, a lot of running, doing exercises with very heavy objects, and carrying/dragging a partner for X distance)
3 miler (req. 3 mile run in 2 sections, first 1.5 miles: 12m30s as a squad, second 1.5 miles best effort, AT LEAST 10m30s or quicker)
Assault course (includes a 6ft wall and a 9ft wall which you must pull yourself over unaided, monkey bars, crawling under nets, sprints, rope climbs, etc) - req. 5m15s or faster.


A lot of upper body strength is needed as well as cardio so training needs to be varied.