Warrior-based PT
Story by Dr. Ed Thomas
IT has been said that those who fail to learn from the past
are destined to repeat it. Those words may ring true for
physical readiness training in the Army, since the doctrine
team at the U.S. Army Physical Fitness School at Fort Benning,
Ga., is currently delving into the past to improve the fitness
of today's soldiers.
Current PRT doctrine was created in the early 1980s at the
Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., Family Support Center. When the
USAPFS moved to Fort Benning in 1992, the PRT focus began
shifting to the 21st-century battlefield.
"Current PRT doctrine is 20 years old and obsolete," said
Frank Palkoska, USAPFS chief of doctrine. "Infantry leaders
want training that will prepare soldiers for the battlefield.
The USAPFS favors a warrior orientation over the
health-promotion model of the 1980s, and we're happy to see
the increased demand for a shift. We're ready for the
challenge."
To reshape PRT for the future, the doctrine team first
revisited the past. "We've studied older Army PRT models
developed before the early 1980s," said instructional systems
specialist Steve VanCamp. "The 1946 and 1957 doctrines have
much to offer. There were also some highly evolved systems of
warrior-based physical training between 1860 and 1920. Even
some earlier European and Asian physical training systems look
useful."
Although the APFT is often the central focus of unit PRT,
the fitness school wants soldiers to realize that it's not the
final goal. "Push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run are only a
few basic and isolated components of fitness," said USAPFS
commandant COL Steve Cellucci. "The final standard for combat
physical readiness is functional fitness."
"Functional fitness for soldiers includes agility, balance,
coordination and numerous other physical parameters that
translate into mission-essential task-list capabilities," said
SSG Richard Holladay, a USAPFS instructor. "The APFT does not
measure a soldier's ability to move well on the battlefield.
If a soldier can move efficiently, functional battlefield
fitness is within reach."
The fitness school is even looking at proper posture as a
way to enhance soldier fitness. "Poor posture and muscular
imbalance are associated with impaired motor skills," said CPT
Danny McMillian, a USAPFS physical therapist. "The Army
stresses military bearing, but correct posture is less a part
of that formula than it should be. Many soldiers do PRT in the
morning and then ignore their posture for the rest of the
day."
Cellucci explained that motor-skills training also requires
rational progression, variety and precision. "Leaping,
climbing, throwing, crawling, kicking, striking, tumbling,
balancing and other motor skills must be thoroughly mastered
if they are to reshape a body and become a learned response,"
he said. "We must all become better examples if any great
leaps forward in the area of functional fitness are to be
realized."
VanCamp, who has been with the USAPFS for more than 15
years, thinks motor skills and functional fitness haven't been
given the attention they deserve. "Motor-skills training was
highly developed in Army PRT doctrine in the late 1800s. A
gymnasium built at the turn of the century was in many ways
superior to our modern facilities," he said. "Almost
everything we do in our gyms today is on the ground. A more
rational PRT program will include ropes, ladders, climbing
grids, vaulting platforms and other devices designed to teach
complex motor skills."
According to Cellucci, structured physical training in
schools was sacrificed to sports and games around 1920. "By
the 1950s there were signs that America was growing clumsy and
unbalanced. There was an initial phase of denial, and American
physical educators have since been slow to face the crisis.
Army recruits fresh from the civilian sector generally have
poor posture and motor patterns that impede training and lead
to injuries," he said.
Current PRT doctrine falls short in the area of motor
skills, and the misguided tendency to train primarily for the
PT test still keeps many soldiers from developing functional
fitness, said Holladay. "As we reshape PRT for the next
century, it simply must include rational motor-skills
training," he added.
In order to help reshape PRT for the future, a team of
noncommissioned officers from the 75th Ranger Regiment
recently joined forces with the USAPFS for a month-long field
test of some new combat physical readiness training being
developed at Fort Benning for the infantry.
The rangers tested six new PRT aids. Medicine balls and
high-quality jump ropes were used for basic plyometric
training. Mass dumbbell drills were developed for muscular
endurance. The walking stick was tested for flexibility drills
and a variety of other combat functions. War Clubs were used
to enhance shoulder girdle flexibility, coordination and
speed. Inversion boots were introduced for total body
decompression and mobilization. These and other on-the-ground
activities were then linked to com-batives and climbing.
"The doctrine team has developed some very powerful
training concepts," said Cellucci. "We wanted to see how
easily the rangers could learn and teach them. They exceeded
our expectations and helped us fine-tune the doctrine."
"We have over a century of modern U.S. Army PRT history to
guide us," said VanCamp. "Yesterday's PRT has much to offer
the future, and rangers have demonstrated that today's soldier
is capable of meeting the standard."
For more information concerning Army PRT, visit the USAPFS
website at www-benning.army.mil/usapfs.
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