The Army is changing the way it develops physical fitness in new Soldiers during basic and advanced individual training. In sum, combat veterans with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan were asked what they would do in basic, to better prepare new Soldiers for the sort of physical challenges they might face in combat. What resulted is the first major change to physical training in decades.
For example, it was recommended that less emphasis be placed on distance running and road marches, in favor of quick burst exercises such as zig-zag sprints and other exercises that develop the body’s core muscles. Consider Soldiers in Afghanistan having to dodge across open areas in urban settings, with full body armor and other heavy gear typically carried. Or, having to rapidly pull a buddy out of a burning vehicle that was struck by an IED.
This new training is being implemented now at all of the Army’s basic training centers, such as Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Drill Sergeants assigned there will be given some latitude on how best to adapt new exercises to those undergoing training, and many will apply lessons they themselves learned during their multiple combat rotations.
A major hurdle for the Army in all of this is the fact that those entering the military today are perhaps less fit than at any other time in recent history. The sedentary lifestyle many young people have adapted to these days makes most overweight and weak in core muscle strength. Statistics reflect that an increasing percentage of new recruits are arriving at basic training largely incapable of performing even simple tasks such as running, and as a result stress fractures are more common than before, meaning “recycles” and declines in graduation rates.
It will be interesting to see how this all works out over the next year or so. Some may wonder if the Army is simply “lowering physical standards” to adapt to the level of fitness seen in the new recruit base. Personally, I don’t think that’s the case, given the apparent role combat veterans have played in helping the Army change the way it develops its Soldiers physically. However, many older veterans will lament, “It was good enough for us, why not for them.”
