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The Air Force Special Operations Preparatory Team, otherwise known as AFSOPT, is a Corps of Cadets organization at Virginia Tech. The purpose of AFSOPT is to provide an organization that has a higher standard of physical training and that provides the training necessary for survival in combat situations. Unlike some other Corps organizations that are restricted to cadets in the military branch they are affiliated with, AFSOPT is open to any member of the Corps that successfully completes tap and passes the test afterwards.

Mission Statement and Purpose

AFSOPT's mission is to create environments and situations that push its members to become better at everything they do - mentally, physically and morally.

Additionally, AFSOPT members strives to motivate others to set higher physical, moral, and mental standards for themselves and meet them.

Responsibilites

AFSOPT's responsibilities within the AFROTC Wing at Virginia Tech include planning, organizing, and executing the Warrior Day Competition in the spring, and Survival Weekend in the Fall. Additionally, the Wing PFO (Physical Fitness Officer) is a junior member of AFSOPT and is responsible for organizing and executing the Wing's PT plans.

Beyond that, AFSOPT members regularly aid the Wing PFO with PT plans, LLab (AFROTC Lead Lab), and any other situation where help is needed.

Tap

AFSOPT's tap is the process by which the organization maintains its numbers, restricting membership only to those who complete it. It is a three week process and consists of PT every weekday morning, and swim sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Cadets who are tapping (taps) are required to do a set of exercises every time they leave and enter any facility on Upper Quad (the section of the Virginia Tech campus that houses the Corps dorms). Taps are also required to sprint whenever they are outside and on Upper Quad. To facilitate this constant PT, taps are required to always wear BDUs as they are the only Corps uniform that Cadets are authorized to PT in.

There are two opportunities to tap AFSOPT each year, once each during the fall and spring semesters. It will begin on a Monday morning and end after the tap test on the Sunday 3 weeks later.

Test

The tap test is modeled identically with the Air Force Pararescueman PAST (Physical Abilities and Stamina Test), and is the final requirement for membership into AFSOPT. Proper form on all exercises is required and strictly enforced. If you fail one event, you fail the test. The standards are as follows:

Event	Time limit
25m underwater swim	Untimed
1000m swim	26:00
1.5mi run	10:30
8 pull-ups	1:00
50 2-count sit-ups	2:00
50 2-count push-ups	2:00
50 4-count flutter-kicks	2:00