Nineteen U.S. Air Force bases have running tracks that are too long, and 16 have tracks that are too short, the MilitaryTimes reported on Wednesday.
The track in Hanscom, Mass. is 360 feet too long; the one in Travis, Calif. is 96 feet too long; and the track in Goodfellow, Texas is 85 feet too long, which might not be a problem, except some airmen have failed to complete a 1.5-mile run in the required time, because the track was longer than everyone thought.
The report said the Air Force is "promising to make things right for airmen who wrongly failed their physical fitness tests as a result of the mismeasurements."
Fifty-nine airmen reportedly failed their fitness tests at Hanscom and Goodfellow alone, something that could cost them promotions.
"The goal is to give every airman who's impacted a chance to be remedied and made whole," Brig. Gen. Brian Kelly, director of military force management policy, told The Air Force Times in an interview at the Pentagon on Wednesday.
"We owe it to them to say, 'Hey, we've identified your score during this time frame was affected by this improper track measurement, and we're contacting you to give you an opportunity and show you the process by which we can help you get this corrected,'" Kelly added.
The sixteen short tracks also will be fixed, but airmen who were tested on those short tracks will not be re-tested.
The mismeasured tracks were discovered during a review of all 114 Air Force installations, here and abroad.
The extra lengths were added during track construction and modification, and from now on, the Air Force will require new measurements and re-certification to be done every time a track is changed in some way and every time a new commander takes charge of an installation.
The report includes a link to a list of the extra-long tracks.