Photo By Sgt. William White | Sgt. David Barner, an automated logistical specialist with 1st Battalion, 187th...... read more read more
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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - The Master Fitness Trainer Course is sweeping the Army, bringing sports nutrition and researched-backed exercise science down to the squad level by informing senior squad members.
On Jan. 20, MFT instructors from the U.S. Army Physical Fitness School in Fort Jackson, S.C., dispatched to Fort Campbell, Ky., to bring the science of physical training to officers and noncommissioned officers the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
“We say it all the time: PT is not the most important thing we do as a Soldier, but it’s the most important thing we do every day” said Staff Sgt. John Wood, a Master Fitness Trainer instructor with U.S. Army Physical Fitness School.
Wood said the goal of the course is to shape some of the Army’s most physically fit leaders into experts in physical readiness by giving them detailed instruction on PRT, exercise science, nutrition, anatomy and physiology, and much more.
“We conduct all the drills out of Field Manual 7-22 and assess their ability to conduct and lead those exercises,” he said. “Their first major gate is to pass that assessment.”
But MFT students learn elements of physical readiness that encompass far more than PRT alone.
“It’s a performance-oriented course,” he said. “There’s a practical application of the things that they learn.”
Wood reiterated that the goal is for MFTs to take what they learn to their units and help build a better-informed exercise culture throughout the Army.
Staff Sgt. Kason Rackley, infantryman and student of the MFT course, is excited to be a catalyst in building that culture.
“I definitely want to educate my Soldiers on nutrition and injury prevention, but my biggest thing is motivation. If I can teach them how to do things properly and show them that they can get better the right way, once they have a taste of that progress, my feeling is that they will become addicted to it, and together we’ll have the motivation to show up to PT and be enthusiastic about it.”
Rackley said that PRT is only a foundational piece of a units’ PT needs and that a unit’s leadership must identify how to expand on it based on job requirements. He also said that commanders should utilize MFTs to their full advantage during training.
“The overall goal is to educate our units because there’s a lot that the Army doesn’t know and isn’t necessarily doing it right on the individual unit level,” he said. “That could be corrected to help prevent the injuries that are going on and help sustain better physical fitness within the units.”
Rackley said that along with better knowledge of nutrition, injury mitigation and technique, a well-planned program will decrease injuries and increase a unit’s combat effectiveness.
“If you follow this regimen, then apply your own knowledge during workout routines, then it’s a sure way to progress and stay healthy at the same time,” he said.
After a physically and academically challenging three weeks, which was extended from two weeks due to heavy snowfall at Fort Campbell, Rackley and the other MFT students of class 16-705 graduated, leaving with an additional skill identifier and a vast knowledge of exercise science and nutrition, which Rackley believes every Soldier should have.
“Every Soldier and NCO should be intimately familiar with this program. I think from here it should progress to all NCOs, and anybody that plans on becoming a leader in the Army should have intimate knowledge of this.”
Wood said Soldiers interested in attending the course should contact their schools NCO and enroll in the phase-one portion of the course, which includes much of the exercise science knowledge students will build upon in the phase-two resident portion.
Candidates for the course must be in accordance with Army Regulation 600-9 and pass and Army Physical Fitness Test with a minimum of 240 points, with at least 70 points in each event, Wood said. The next course at Fort Campbell is scheduled to begin on May 2.
| Date Taken: | 02.02.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2016 15:23 |
| Story ID: | 187803 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 689 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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