The Space Force issued thousands of smartwatches to replace PT tests

The Space Force is halfway through its two-year experiment of monitoring fitness via smartwatches instead of physical fitness tests. The service’s top enlisted leader recently shared his experience with the program—and how he envisions health data intersecting with troop readiness.

Air Force Research Laboratory began the two-year, all-volunteer study in May 2023 as part of its Holistic Health Approach. Volunteers must wear their Garmin smartwatches when exercising and fill out questionnaires that are submitted to AFRL’s 711th Human Performance Wing. 

“Right now, we're in a study period with [the] Air Force Research Lab. So because we're in a study period, I'm a little limited on not only the information that I have access to, what I'm able to talk about, so I can share with you my personal journey,” Space Force Chief Master Sgt. John Bentivegna, told reporters during the annual Air, Space & Cyber conference. 

Last year, the Space Force got about 6,000 Garmin smartwatches to dole out to participants in the experiment, which tracks cardio fitness and physical activity. 

Bentivegna’s exercise goal is to hit “150 intensity minutes a week,” and he posts updates and his workouts to his personal social media account for additional accountability. The program lets guardians choose their favorite activities.

“I prefer biking, it’s what I like to do,” he said. “But it gives flexibility to the [service member] to do the exercise that suits them…and it's trackable.” 

Exercising regularly and providing feedback through the questionnaires are mandatory for study participants, Air & Space Forces Magazine previously reported. Failure to do either could get participants dismissed from the program, which would mean they’d have to go back to taking regular physical fitness tests. 

But if the program is broadly adopted, it could be used to improve human performance, or the data could be used in conjunction with other fitness data the military collects, such as the Air Force’s mandatory waist-to-height measurement for body composition, to see how it correlates. 

“We have individuals who are doing all their intensity minutes, but what's your body composition? Are they aligned, right? Is this working out the right way?” Bentivegna said. 

Study volunteers’ data isn’t shared with senior leaders. But Bentivegna, as the Space Force’s top enlisted leader, said he could envision the program eventually giving leaders better insights into troops’ overall wellness. 

“So if I have a guardian who's constantly exercising, and has healthy lifestyles, making healthy choices. And I pull up my dashboard and I see that someone has a change in their behavior, a change in their routine, I have an opportunity to engage early. Is everything OK? Are you hurt, or am I working you too hard that you don't have the time now that you need to dedicate to yourself for your fitness and your health, right?” he said. 

“I like it, because in the long run—and this is my vision as a leader—I want to be able to collect the data, because I want it to be a leading indicator to understand the health of the force.” 

But the watches do have a downside: even though they’re cleared to go in secure locations, they can’t go overseas, Bentivegna said. 

“If it's a Department of the Air Force accredited SCIF, I can bring it in, as long as I don't bring it overseas. And like three days after I became chief master sergeant of the Space Force, I traveled to Japan with Gen. [B. Chance] Saltzman, and I brought my watch with me so I was no longer accredited, so I couldn't wear it to work all the time,” he said. “There are some guardians that can wear them to work, others that can't. So, we're working through some of that. But again, it's a study. We're collecting data.”

AFRL didn’t return requests for comment before publication.