We’ve written several articles on the need for a more rounded physical training training program for armed professionals. The important thing is to focus on occupational or functional fitness. According to a story by SGT Lindsey Kibler of the I Corps Public Affairs Office, Corps CSM John Troxell is doing just that with his new Physical Mentally Emotionally Hard Gauntlet which he developed while serving as the Brigade CSM of 4th Bde, 2nd ID, during their 15-month deployment to Iraq in 2007.
“We had 60 to 80 pounds of kit on, going long distances, and I needed my guys to be physically fit, to be hard,†CSM Troxell said. “Hard in the sense that they need to be physically, mentally and emotionally strong to make it.â€
His realized that having Soldiers strictly train for the Army Physical Fitness Test wasn’t enough because the APFT wasn’t designed for the rigors of combat. Once he assumed his new position he set about to do what NCOs do; train Soldiers but this time he could train even more by training the Corps’ subordinate unit Sergeants Major. In turn, once trained on the basic concepts, they can return to their units with this new physical fitness methodology and effect change within their own organizations.
On April 29th, CSM Troxell gathered the Corps’ most Senior NCOs for a PT session, but one unlike anything they had ever done before. Designed to work more than those muscles used on an APFT; it forces the body to work its core, back, hips and upper thighs. CSM Troxell and his command team set up 21 different stations consisting of various non-standard equipment items like wrecker chains, logs and tires.
“This isn’t about testing your strength against me or anyone else out here. I’m too busy smoking the dog crap out of myself to pay attention to anyone else,†Troxell told SGT Kibler. “It’s you against you, and only you will know if you’ve cheated yourself or not.â€
Participants spent a set time at each station and moved round robin style to the next event. As the session progressed, fatigue set in and this is exactly what CSM Troxell wanted to to see. The point is to push individual limits. In his program there are mental and emotional components to comprehensive Soldier fitness. You have to reach down and work through the challenge.
“You need something to compensate for your physical deficiencies. Your mind, soul and spirit are what will keep you going,†he said. “We are tactical athletes. We face dynamic things on the battlefield, and we need to be prepared for that.â€
This is great stuff and it is awesome to see a Corps CSM take the lead on something like this. As the Army transforms its physical fitness program we hope that programs like this are incorporated into a larger program. The old pushup, situp, 2-mile run APFT is a relic of the Cold War. It has a sausage factory feel being more suited to administrivia than combat applicability. Oddly, the Army had a more combat focused draft-era PT test up until the early 80s when it switched to the three event test. America fields the most professional Army this world has ever seen. It is about time that it gets to the work of making the most of its combat Army and doing the things for the sake of being the best rather than being the easiest to manage.
