Courtesy Photo | Command Sgt. Maj. Tony Grinston, command sergeant major for the 2nd Battalion, 15th...... read more read more
By 2nd Lt. Liz Lopez
210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — From afar, the formation looks no different than any other Army physical training session.
Upon closer inspection one realizes that it is the soldiers themselves that make this PT formation special.
Sgt. Omar Aponte, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, a physical therapy technician in Company C, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, N.Y., teaches a select group of Iraqi soldiers U.S. Army standards of physical training. He arrives at the Iraqi army compound in Mahmudiyah almost every morning to lead them through their 90-minute workout.
The idea to teach physical training techniques to Iraqi soldiers began in September 2006 when Aponte and physical therapist Capt. Scott Carow, of Tampa, Fla., spent an afternoon discussing ways they could improve their physical therapy rotation in Iraq.
A physical training program for the Iraqi army was actually the first idea they proposed. The concept was easy to sell. However, execution was a problem. It simply was not feasible to integrate a physical training program into the Iraqi army's other missions.
Not easily discouraged, the pair doggedly pursued the plan for nearly 10 months.
"If I'm going to be out here, I'm going to do something good for the Iraqi people," Aponte said.
He brought his plan to Command Sgt. Maj. Tony Grinston, command sergeant major of 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd BCT. He credits the idea becoming a reality to Grinston, who incorporated it into the Commando School, an initiative to train elite groups of Iraqi soldiers, motivating others to follow their examples.
On the first day, Carow and Aponte began their physical training program by administering a physical fitness test designed to measure the soldiers' initial fitness level. The test consisted of push-ups and pull-ups, to determine upper body strength, and a series of sprints to verify gauge speed and agility.
Following the initial assessment, Aponte continued leading the soldiers each day in one of the four fitness modules he and Carow created to focus on the major muscle groups, ensuring they receive a total body workout.
The modules are speed and agility; cardiovascular and upper body strengthening; speed and core strengthening; and lower body strengthening. In addition, road marches and hand-to-hand combat training have been included in the program.
"The way we are teaching them to do physical training is the same as our standards," Aponte said.
These standards include learning proper warm-up and cool-down techniques to minimize injury, becoming physically and mentally strong and learning the importance of military discipline.
Teaching the Iraqi army has not always been easy. Aponte specifically recalled the first three days of the program being a bit rocky because the soldiers could not follow his commands.
Aponte took the initiative to learn key phrases in Arabic, which helped the soldiers know what he was asking them to do. Almost immediately he saw an improvement in their ability to follow his commands and to follow them quickly. He wants the soldiers to follow his lead, and he makes an effort to inspire them to do so.
"Everything they do, I do, too," Aponte said.
He even wears the same clothes they do. Since the soldiers have no standard PT uniform, the troops simply remove their uniform blouses and work out and run in their pants and boots.
With a little more than a week remaining in the program, Aponte's part in training the IA is coming to an end. In a few days, he will re-test them to measure their improvement. Regardless of the outcome, Aponte believes he has already seen success.
"The majority of them have said to me that even though the exercises are challenging, they are getting better," he said.
Aponte does not know if the soldiers he worked with will continue to train their physical fitness when he leaves.
"It's up to them," he said. "Physical training was not a part of their daily routine."
Whether they continue or not, Aponte knows that he is leaving a group of Iraqi soldiers in better shape than when he met them. He has achieved his goal of teaching them a physical fitness program that will make them stronger and more efficient in their military tasks.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2007 05:59 |
| Story ID: | 11586 |
| Location: | MAHMUDIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 201 |
| Downloads: | 124 |
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