MILLINGTON, Tenn (NNS) — In order to improve the overall health of Sailors and enhance the administration and execution of the Physical Readiness Program, Navy announced the revision of OPNAVINST 6110.1J in NAVADMIN 203/11, July 12.

The revised instruction will strengthen program compliance, improve physical fitness assessment (PFA) documentation and encourage sailors to maintain the level of physical fitness required to support mission readiness. This is the first major revision to the physical readiness program since 2005.

“We reduced the instruction to just what leadership needs to know and the rest is contained in the Physical Readiness Program Operating Guide, which will be a how-to manual., said Bill Moore, Physical Readiness Program director.

Several changes are reflected in the new instruction, including the requirement to complete the medical screening process prior to participating in the PFA as well as a reduction of the number of PRT scoring categories to five, ranging from “outstanding” to “failure.”

The rules have also changed regarding medical waivers. Sailors granted two medical waivers in a 12-month period will be referred to a medical treatment facility for a medical evaluation board.

In addition, failing the body composition assessment (BCA) is now considered an overall PFA failure and sailors can no longer request a “bad day” exception for the BCA and are limited to one PRT retest for a given PFA cycle.

Mandatory administrative separation will continue for sailors who have failed three PFAs within the most recent four-year period. While the instruction allows for waivers for those with three PFA failures, individuals may still face separation and may be prevented from transferring, reenlisting or extending in-service.

The instruction also stresses passing the physical fitness assessment is a requirement for continued Navy service; failure to meet these requirements can result in administrative separation processing.

The Physical Readiness Program Operating Guide is now in place, accompanied by an updated version of the Navy Nutrition Guide and Fitness Enhancement Program (FEP) guidance online at the Navy Physical Readiness web page.