Three U.S. Army staff sergeants administered the Army Recruiting physical test to the Mustang football team on July 22, 2026. Photo by Peter Day
Published Thursday, July 23, 2026
Three representatives of the local Army Recruiting office visited Lucerne Valley High School on Wednesday, July 22 to administer the Army Recruiting physical test to members of the Mustang football team.
While the weather at the 8 a.m. starting time was a breezy 84 degrees but rising, the intensity of the event would become apparent on the faces — and sweaty T-shirts — of all the high school participants.
SSG. Rehak, SSG. Cannon and SSG. Tucker took the athletes through their paces starting with the 3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift, which begins with the 60-pound hex bar and plates for a 150 pound starting point. While some of the lighter athletes weighing as little as 110 pounds went out after the first stage, but some of the older, more muscular football players were able to lift the middle weight of 225 or the largest weight of 275 pounds.
Next the young athletes participated in the Hand-Release Push-Up test, which had each person do as many of this specific variety of push-ups in two minutes. By the end, each athletes’ arms felt like putty.
In the Spring-Drag-Carry challenge, the athletes do five 50-meter shuttles consisting of sprint, drag, lateral, carry, and sprint using two 40-pound kettlebells and a 90-pound sled.
The plank tests muscular endurance by measuring core strength and endurance. The Mustangs started together, but one-by-one their test ended.
While a classic decathlon ends with a 1,500-meter run, the Army Recruiting fitness test ends with a much longer 2-mile run to test aerobic endurance. Twenty minutes was the cutoff time, with a number finishing before that.
At the end of the fitness test, SSG. Tucker revealed the top performer of the event. Brian Hernandez was the highest scorer, scoring 404 points out of a possible 500.
SSG. Tucker said the fitness test proved that the athletes learned there are not going to quit and encouraged them to see what they can work on.
Head Coach Chris Klinger encouraged the players to use the Army Recruiting physical test as a benchmark of where they stand today and to continue to work on improving their overall fitness. “You probably did more than you thought you could do,” Coach Klinger said. “You probably can do more than you think you can. Good job.”