MEDICAL RELEASE FORM
CERTIFICATE OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
This form should be read carefully and must be signed by the applicant, the applicant’s parents or
guardians and the applicant’s physician(s).
The Virginia Military Institute’s unique program of undergraduate education requires that cadets fully participate in all
aspects of the program and meet its rigorous physical and psychological demands, including the intense fourth-class (rat)
year, ROTC physical fitness tests, mandatory physical education and mandatory ROTC classes, including handling and
maintaining weapons.
Examples of the specific demands that will be made are provided below. The list is not intended to be complete, but
merely representative, of the challenges of the VMI program. It is important to understand that none of these activities or
expectations occur in isolation but many in combination. The demands placed upon each cadet’s physical and mental
resources are purposefully extraordinary, but so is the resulting VMI graduate.
Mandatory Physical Education Requirements:
Boxing
Wrestling
VMI Fitness Test (Run, Pull-ups, Sit-ups)
Swimming
Mandatory Rat Challenge Activities:
Pugil stick training
5 mile runs
Forced marches of varying length and intensity
High level entry into water
Group and individual obstacle courses/courses
Rappelling (Approximately 150 feet)
Rock climbing
Fourth Class Training:
Intense workouts of 15 minutes or more to include,
Pushups
Running in place
Crunches
Leg lifts
Forced marches
Constant climbing of four (4) flights of stairs
Living Conditions:
Close quarters (4 or more to a room)
Minute regulation of all aspects of conduct
Constant unpredictable and rigorous demands
Extremely limited free time
Mandatory mutual reliance upon others (extreme peer pressure)
___________________________________ is, to the best of my knowledge, physically and mentally fit and able to meet
(Applicant’s Name)
all the demands of a VMI education.
____
____________________________________________________________________ Date_______________________
Signature of Applicant
________________________________________________________________________ Date_______________________
Signature of Parent or Guardian
________________________________________________________________________ Date_______________________
Signature of Physician
(Required only of cadets returning to the ratline.)
Updated 02/13
