Photo By Airman 1st Class Jordaan Kvale | Tyler Smith, physical therapist, and Dustin Chadwick and Conor McNeil, strength and...... read more read more
CAMP MURRAY, WASH. -- When the 194th Wing Human Performance Optimization program was initially formed in October 2022, it was one of the first HPO programs in the Air National Guard. It was originally directed toward the special warfare operators of the 111th and 116th Air Support Operation Squadrons but is now available wing-wide. What is it and how does it work?
“It’s all in the name, it’s Human Performance Optimization,” said Dr. Conor McNeil, strength and conditioning coach. “You define what that human performance means to you, whether that’s passing a test or whatever, and we optimize it to make sure that you do the best you can.”
The HPO team is made up of three highly qualified individuals. Dustin Chadwick, strength and conditioning coach, was the first to join when he was hired in October 2022. Shortly thereafter, he was accompanied by Tyler Smith, physical therapist, in January 2023. The most recent addition was McNeil, who was hired in January 2024.
The trio have an extensive background working specifically with collegiate and professional athletes. Chadwick has six years’ experience as a strength and conditioning coach in collegiate sports but was most recently the lead strength and conditioning coach for the Army on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Smith worked sports rehabilitation in Los Angeles and then as a travel physical therapist in Northern California before joining the staff. McNeil worked as a strength and conditioning coach at the Olympic
Training Center in Colorado Springs, with the New Zealand national rugby team, and most recently with Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals.
The fundamental purpose of the HPO program is to prevent injury and maintain a high deployment rate, said Chadwick. Injuries have the same effect on a multi-million-dollar athlete as they do on military personnel, they derail careers and dissipate dollars.
“Injuries deplete funds unbelievably quickly,” said Chadwick. “Having people healthy, not getting injuries, and ending a career because it was time to retire as opposed to medically retiring… that’s a huge component both from a military standpoint and our standpoint.”
The HPO team is designed to work seamlessly together to help airmen return to duty safely and swiftly.
“Having integrated the HPO program with strength coaches and a PT on staff, we are all talking to each other,” said Smith. “I’ll let Dustin know to expect ‘these and these things,’ or the same thing with Conor, so that they have some idea of what the trajectory of the strength and conditioning should look like based on having some of the rehab principles.”
The HPO team is located at the 111th ASOS where they are readily available for full-time and drill status guardsmen alike.
“I've let everyone call me seven days a week, anytime of the day, to answer questions on whatever it might be,” said Chadwick. “Just reach out, we're available by any means.”
The HPO team can perform assessments virtually and create subsequent training programs suitable for any individual. Utilizing fitness tracking technology and training applications, they can also monitor clients’ heart rate variability, sleep, and training from afar.
“For example, if a client sleeps for three hours for four straight days, the HPO team, monitoring via tracking technology, may suggest a modified recovery training until sleep improves,” said Chadwick.
There are a variety of platforms that the HPO team currently uses to communicate with clients, but they are planning to centralize the program to one online training platform where the team can consistently monitor training and provide feedback to clients.
The HPO team plans to continue expanding and building the support structure that they have carefully constructed thus far. Ultimately, they hope the program becomes a permanent fixture within the 194th Wing. Permanent positions would not only allow the HPO team to continue improving the efficiency of the program, but also allow them to collect research data for three or five years down the road.
“If we know this is a permanent fixture in the Air Force and we’re not going to deviate from it,” said Chadwick. “I think that opens up another realm of technology we want to look at and research we want to do in the community.”
McNeil continued that thought, “There’s so much benefit that needs to be uncovered. Especially in this context in the military where you’re expected to train like a professional athlete, but you don’t have the same support systems and structures around you, there’s a lot of meat on the bone in terms of how far we can push this in terms of performance, injury prevention, and long-term health outcomes.”
For questions or setting up appointments, the staff can be contacted via email or phone: dustin.chadwick@durohealth.com /360-470-6606, tyler.smith@durohealth.com /310-266-1797, or conor.mcneill@durohealth.com /360-787-8475.
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2024 18:33 |
| Story ID: | 466636 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 242 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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