Army vice chief: Soldiers are like professional athletes, so lets train like them

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2017/10/15/army-vice-chief-soldiers-are-like-professional-athletes-so-lets-train-like-them/

Army vice chief: Soldiers are like professional athletes, so let’s train like them

By: Meghann Myers    17 hours ago

With the implementation of the Occupational Physical Assessment Test and the piloting of the Army Combat Readiness Test, the Army is in the midst of a push toward fitness standards that better reflect the strength and agility needed on the battlefield. Part of that move, officials say, should start at the unit level, with a holistic approach to fitness that includes nutrition, recovery and preventive physical therapy. “If we take a look at what professional sports teams do, we have incredible young men and women, and if it’s good enough for the National Football League or professional baseball players,” then it’s something the Army should consider, said Gen. James McConville, the Army vice chief of staff.

Army fitness is at a turning point: After decades on the push-up, sit-up and run model, the service is piloting a combat fitness test to measure whether soldiers are up to the physical challenge of battlefield tasks. The head of the Center for Initial Military Training has floated the idea of having professional trainers and nutritionists available to every soldier, and McConville echoed that. “They have nutritionists, they have physical trainers. They have all of those type of things,” he said, referring to pro sports teams. “And our soldiers are, in a lot of ways, like professional athletes. So we want to give them all the capability they need to stay on the field and play their position.”
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