Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig | Spc. Melissa Johnson, repair parts manager and PT cadre, 103rd ESC, and a Des Moines,...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — “If you’re not puking, you’re not trying,” shouted the drill sergeant from his perch high above the runners struggling around the track at Holt Stadium, Joint Base Balad, Iraq at sunset after a long duty day.
Staff Sgt. Steven Barrett, former drill sergeant and current training non-commissioned officer with Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and an Omaha, Neb. native, led a session of the Army’s new Physical Readiness Training.
Every day for the next nine weeks, soldiers of the 103rd ESC will come together to conduct PRT to improve their physical condition, unit camaraderie, and Army Physical Fitness Test scores.
PRT is currently in the process of being implemented Army-wide to replace the outdated standardized physical training.
“The 103rd ESC is currently in the crawl phase of implementation,” said Barrett.
“We are in week one of a nine-week program culminating in our 100 percent APFT in March,” he said.
Army Training Circular 3-22.20 states that military leaders have always known that the effectiveness of soldiers depends largely upon their physical condition. The developers of PRT recognize the current reality that the Army contains a wide variety of specializations that require equally varied types and levels of physical fitness.
“The goal is for each unit to be physically ready to do their job. Therefore, a cavalry scout unit will have a much more rigorous PRT training schedule than an ESC,” said Barrett.
Barrett and his PT cadre, composed of junior enlisted Soldiers from the 103rd ESC, have spent approximately 40 hours over the past two weeks scheduling, teaching each other by rehearsing the exercises, doing site reconnaissance and building the confidence needed to lead a group through new terrain.
“Before we implemented PRT as a unit, group PT was much less organized and now it’s much easier for people to stay motivated because we have a routine planned and laid out in a calendar they can access on the 103rd website,” said Sgt. Tyler Smith, intelligence analyst, 103rd ESC, and a Des Moines, Iowa, native.
Smith is one of several soldiers who volunteered time as a PT cadre and sacrifices more than one hour of personal time every day to help implement PRT to the 103rd ESC, he said.
“I can trust and have trusted my PT cadre with any part of the program,” said Barrett.
Barrett and the members of his cadre provide a fitness environment where 103rd ESC soldiers encourage each other to improve their physical condition and engage in friendly competition to motivate each other to boost their performance.
“If we’re motivated, they’re motivated,” said Spc. Melissa Johnson, repair parts manager and PT cadre, 103rd ESC, and a Des Moines, Iowa, native.
“For me it’s very personal because I was performing below standard at PT and in six months I brought myself up to get an above average score,” she said..
There is a less intimidating vibe working out with a group of peers encouraging you than going to a gym and possibly feeling intimidated by strangers there who are clearly much more comfortable in that environment, said Johnson.
As a member of the junior enlisted PT cadre, the soldiers lead the preparation drill at the beginning of each session, Barrett walks around the formation observing and sometimes correcting soldiers’ technique and offering encouragement and motivation.
The change from the older versions of PT to the new PRT is not a radical departure from what soldiers are used to seeing. The main difference is the increased flexibility leaders have to adapt the routine to the needs of their specific unit.
“The SPT would improve the physically unfit to get them up to standard, but for people who came in already scoring high it would bring their score down, not to below passing, but their physical readiness would actually decrease,” said Barrett. “I’ve become completely sold on and excited about the PRT.”
PRT is improving the motivation and performance of the 103rd ESC soldiers currently participating in the nine-week program. PRT is improving the motivation and performance of the 103rd ESC soldiers currently participating in the nine-week program. The test of this program’s success will come in March with the results of the Army Physical Fitness Test.
| Date Taken: | 01.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.09.2011 08:54 |
| Story ID: | 63258 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, ESC Soldiers lead the way, practicing new Army PRT program, by SFC Zane Craig, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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