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OSUT soldiers at Fort Benning, Ga., do sit-ups using medicine balls. It is one of the many exercises that can be performed with medicine balls either solo or with a partner. Medicine balls are a key feature of physical readiness training that will undergo tests at Fort Jackson, S.C. (Photo by Jim Caldwell) | ||||
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'Old PT' May Become Standard for
Initial Entry Training, Even Army | ||||
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"We are doing a broadbrush review of physical readiness training for our Army, specifically for initial entry training," said Col. Mick Bednarek, commander of the 4th Training Brigade at Fort Jackson. The brigade's basic combat training soldiers will be involved in the pilot program and follow-on testing. "Our goal is to standardize PRT (physical readiness training) with training that is precise, systematic and progressive for the nine-week BCT. We're confident that this will be the vanguard to change, and highlight to the rest of the Army this is the best way to proceed. It is smart, focused and exciting. It's time to make it happen." The doctrine soldiers will test is not a product of high tech medical research. It's based on training introduced into the United States in the 1800s, and has been used before by the Army. PRT gained renewed interest in the Army when soldiers in a demonstration program at Fort Benning, Ga., achieved impressive scores on the Army Physical Fitness Test. Beginning in July 1999, drill sergeants in 4th Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Training Brigade conducted PRT with three cycles of one station unit training soldiers.
They used dumbbells, medicine balls and other equipment in a variety of exercise routines. Instead of running every day, soldiers ran no more than three times a week. "The goal is to improve combat physical fitness while reducing injuries," said Dr. Ed Thomas, instructional systems specialist with the U.S. Army Physical Fitness School (USAPFS) at Fort Benning. He is the driving force behind the effort to have the Army investigate PRT. Thomas is an infantry veteran and a Fulbright Scholar who holds a doctorate in education with emphasis in health promotion from Northern Illinois University. He earned bachelor and master degrees in physical education from The University of Iowa. "The best of PRT doctrine stressed rational progression, variety and precision," he said. When Thomas began working with the drill sergeants, they were skeptical about replacing current APFT with a new doctrine. "I thought it would be a waste of time when we were told we were going to be the test platoon for a new PT program," said Staff Sgt. Michael Tucker, 4th Platoon drill sergeant. "I'm a believer now." Tucker became a believer with the first class, as soldiers began scoring more points on weekly unofficial APFT tests. On the final graded PT test, he said a soldier scored 367 points. The passing score on the APFT is 180, 60 points each for sit-up, push-ups and the two-mile run. But for BCT soldiers, the standard is 50 points each. Soldiers can score 100 points in each event by meeting higher requirements. If they exceed the maximum standards in each event, they earn extra points. Tucker was asked if one soldier scored that high, how many scored 300? "Let's put it this way," he said. "We have a rule that any soldier who scores 300 on the APFT doesn't have to do the 12-mile road march to the FTX (field training exercise) site. "Out of 48 soldiers, only 12 of them marched." Soldiers in the three cycles also experienced fewer injuries than previous OSUT classes. Staff Sgt. Craig Cooper, 4th Platoon senior drill sergeant, said soldiers in the demonstration developed greater muscle definition than previous platoons. "That was because of the weight training," he said, "but they weren't pumped up and bulky." Privates Andrew Yuhasz, Palmyra, Fla., and Adam Worther, Minneapolis, members of the third platoon to have PRT, said the exercises were paying off. "Oh, yeah. I can tell a difference when I take my shirt off," Yuhasz said. "I can feel it, too." By the second unofficial APFT, Yuhasz scored 267 points and Worther 257. They also lowered their times from the two-mile run by about six minutes and five minutes, respectively, beating the 100-point time of 13 minutes. "I thought it (Army PT) would be a lot of running, all push-ups and sit-ups," Worther said. "I didn't know we'd be doing a lot of different kinds of stuff like this." How could nearly forgotten approaches to physical fitness produce better results than modern training methods? European immigrants, primarily Germans and Swedes, brought highly evolved systems of warrior-based PRT to the United States in the mid-1800s. Thomas said restorative and military training was at the core of both systems, along with a spirit of self-discipline and duty to country. By the late 1800s, many schools in the Midwest and Northeast used the principles in physical education classes. "The Army adopted the German system in 1885 when Herman J. Koehler was appointed Master of the Sword at the United States Military Academy," Thomas said. "Koehler's remarkable vision for PRT began to fade after his retirement in 1923 as physical training was sacrificed to sports and games." Army basic training PT used PRT principles until after the Korean War, Thomas said. But recently PRT methods have again emerged in several parts of the country. "There is no reason for us not to shape 21st century PRT upon it," he said. The effort at Fort Benning was just a demonstration of PRT benefits. The Fort Jackson program will use scientific research methods, according to Bednarek. Another difference is that at Fort Benning only men did the training. At Fort Jackson men and women in gender integrated BCT companies will participate. "There will be a pilot group where we will work with the drill sergeant trainers to perfect the training methods. Then we will run a full program initiative where a test battalion using the new training methods will be compared to a control group using current training methods," Bednarek said. Drill sergeants in the 1-34th Infantry Battalion will be trained to teach the new techniques from July 10-17. "Drill sergeants are pumped up to do this," Bednarek said. The pilot cycle will be from July 21-September 21. During that time drill sergeants and research and exercise physiologists will refine their training and data collection methods. Scientists from the Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., will monitor changes in fitness using the APFT and other measures of fitness. Researchers will track injuries by screening medical records and look at discharged and recycled soldiers, plus BCT graduation success. Soldiers' attitudes toward the new training will also be measured with specially designed questionaires. New soldiers will got through the test cycle September 29-November 30. Another infantry battalion at Fort Jackson will be the control group. Its soldiers will continue training on current PT doctrine, while the 1-34th soldiers use dumbbells, medicine balls and other exercise equipment. Each battalion has five companies with about 250 soldiers in each company. "Our intent is to finish up the pilot, test and control groups before the Christmas break, so we can get our surveillance methodology, all the results, etc., and present our results to the senior Army leadership," Bednarek said. CHPPM is funding the PRT test with about $118,000 from its Health Initiatives Proposals Program. The money will pay for exercise equipment, as well as travel for exercise and research physiologists studying the program. If the Army adopts physical readiness training methods, a new APFT test probably will also be designed by the USAPFS, according to Bednarek. "It's critically important to our Army that our standards are maintained and remain battle focused, not only by individuals, but by all units," he said.
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Posted 29 June 00 |
