Courtesy Photo | New York Army National Guard Soldiers taking part in the seven-day Tactical Athletes...... read more read more
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CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE — Thirty New York Army National Guard Soldiers from across the state who needed some help in order to pass the Army’s new physical readiness test got it during a seven day course held at Camp Smith Training Site, August 6- 12.
Dubbed the Tactical Athlete Course, or TAC for short, the course is a pilot program that focuses on total Soldier readiness and fitness, according to Sgt. Major Joseph Fisher, the operations sergeant major for the 106th Regional Training Institute.
The 106th ran the course.
The Army Combat Readiness Test will consist of six events, designed to prepare Soldiers for combat tasks, and will replace the current three-event Army Physical Fitness Test by October of 2020.
Since ten percent of the New York Army National Guard’s 10,000 Soldiers have problems with one or more of the current events, this change could present real challenges, Fisher explained.
TAC is designed to help Soldiers meet this more rigorous physical fitness requirement by focusing on nutrition education, physical training, and psychological development.
“If were not deployable and can’t do our job, then it creates a huge problem for the army at large.” Fisher said, “If 10% of our Soldiers are flagged, that’s almost an entire battalion worth of soldiers, so we want to take a holistic approach to fitness and nutrition.”
A fitness trainer taught the course and the Soldiers got the opportunity to take the new Army Combat Readiness Test.
The current Army Physical Fitness Test consists of sit-ups, pushups and a two mile run. The new test will include the two-mile run and pushups.
But the new pushups will require a Soldier to go all the way to the ground and then raise their hands from the ground and extend them before doing another push-up. This, according to Army fitness experts better measures upper body strength.
The other four events will involve equipment. These include:
--The standing power throw, which requires the Soldier to throw a ten pound ball;
--The strength deadlift, which requires a weight set;
--The leg truck, which requires a pull-up bar;
And the 250-meter sprint, drag, and carry, which requires weights.
The seven-day program was successful in helping Soldiers change their behavior Fisher said.
Even after the course ended the participants were hitting their local gyms and were continuing to work together to stay motivated and had created a Facebook page to help them share, since they live across the state, he added.
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.23.2018 10:37 |
| Story ID: | 289960 |
| Location: | CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE , NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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