Out-of-shape soldiers a 'national threat'

[MJP]

they were re-issuing clothes to CF members much more often with bigger sizes than smaller ones...

I call that getting old....

 

[PMedMoe]

And the fact that they changed the sizes when we got the CADPAT.  Waist sizes are in increments of 4 inches vs. 2 (E.g. 26", next size is 30").  So if someone is a 28, they now have to get a 30".  That could be misleading too.

 

[Inquisitor]

Currently walk 9 to 10 KM @ 1 1/2 hour, 5/6 times a week.

I looked at that and thought "What????"

I sincerely hope that I misread this 9 to 10 Km @ 1 1/2 What? surely not KM per hour?  If that was the case, I'm sure it isn't I understand their is a new inspirational movie out called "Turbo" ;D

The 9-10 km though good for you.

 

[Monsoon]

I've been working as a bouncer here in Halifax for a little while now and most of the guys who show their Navy ID's tend to be quite "plump".

Navy ID, hey? Must be something new.

I've never worked in the navy so I'm not sure of the physical fitness required to do their job but it would seem like it isn't that high...at least in the ruck 30 km's with 50lbs on your back sort of way.

It's a cortisol-driven environment: lots of stress, lots of standing/waiting/staying alert, lots of deprivation of natural light and fresh air. Highly conducive to catabolism and central fat storage. It's physically demanding, but not in a way that makes you stronger or healthier.

 

[Rifleman62]

Inquisitor

The aim is to do 10 KM in 1 1/2 hours which is what I should have wrote.

I did have  a problem with the shrink moths getting at Mess Kit though.

 

[Inquisitor]

Sir, Glad to hear that I misunderstood.

I did not mean to offend, and will try to learn from this

 

[jollyjacktar]

jollyjacktar:
Not fat, but not skinny! In those days I was running at least an hour a day at the YMCA track across the street from work.

That's true.  Not skinny, not fat.  Solid and fit comes to mind, as one would expect of a Rifleman.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

What the study also sort of touched on was that the chain of command has to be involved more by making PT a priority as opposed to the embuggerance a lot of folks make it out to be.  I've been (and still am) utterly amazed at how many low level supervisors take it upon themselves to decide the routine work that never goes away to be  "operational necessity" and who make PT a reward vice part of the work day, despite CO and CDS ORDER's requiring their subordinates to train at least 3 times a week on compnay time...and the leaders that let these people get away with disobeying those same orders.  I know PT is a personal responsibility, but it's also a work one - as a leader, you have to know what the lowest common denominator in your unit is and raise that to something operational.  Also, group PT gets you out there and learning about your folks, allows you to give them leadership challenges, burn off steam, etc, ad nauseum.  While I know I'm generally preaching to the choir here, there are still folks out there that feel the CF is a 9-5 job and PT is but a burden to their work/career advancement agendae.

Rant over.

MM

This. 

IMO, fitness is a leadership/command responsibility is it not?  So when Pte/OS Bloggins doesn't pass his/her PT test, how come only they are held to account and not their CofC from the CO on down?  The CDS Guidance to COs is pretty clear on PT and so is the DAOD.

 

[ModlrMike]

This. 

IMO, fitness is a leadership/command responsibility is it not?  So when Pte/OS Bloggins doesn't pass his/her PT test, how come only they are held to account and not their CofC from the CO on down?  The CDS Guidance to COs is pretty clear on PT and so is the DAOD.

Exactly.

The comment in the article that "soldiers do one hour of PT every day" is essentially true in so much as it relates to brigade units. There's still plenty of other folks out there who don't get this PT time., and are told that they should do PT on their own time. What we need to do is inculcate a culture of fitness in the CF. A culture that starts at the top, but also starts from day 1 of a person's career and carries on until retirement.

I recollect doing predeployment training at a US base one tour and virtually every single soldier was doing PT first thing in the morning.

 

[McG]

As a step toward establishing a better culture of fitness, perhaps we should stop cutting PT time from courses as a way to compress training.  Anything longer than 7 consecutive days should be mandated to include fitness time.

 

[captloadie]

I fully agree that we need to instill a greater fitness culture in the military. That being said, I'm tired of hearing that there are no excuses why Pte/Cpl Bloggins can't be given time off for PT during company time. All my sections aren't manned to the point where they can have more than one or two at any given time off doing PT. Daily details need to get done, aircraft need to be refueled, and runways need to be kept open. I would love nothing more than to shut down three or four times a week for 90 minutes to get everyone their required PT, but someone needs to convince the Comd 1 Air Div to only fly missions after 9am.

It does go back to instilling that culture in members from the beginning and through their trades training so that when they are out on their own, and company time isn't always available, they will do it on their own time.

 

[Halifax Tar]

As a step toward establishing a better culture of fitness, perhaps we should stop cutting PT time from courses as a way to compress training.  Anything longer than 7 consecutive days should be mandated to include fitness time.

Excellent point MCG!  I recently taught a QL5 Sup Tech Course and I was dismayed at the lack of PT times (2hrs a week).  It was explained to me the course had been compressed and PT time was sacrificed.  I know many of the students were dismayed as well. 

 

[PanaEng]

And the CADPAT OTW shirts leave nothing to the imagination, and it is quite frankly embarrassing to see all these individuals running around here on KAIA wearing those things, and proudly displaying well developed beer guts, and moobs.  It seems its more for the LCF than anything else, since none of the other nations here wear their OTW shirts 24/7.

You mean like this:http://www.outofregs.com/index.php?page=archives&id=95

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Exactly.

The comment in the article that "soldiers do one hour of PT every day" is essentially true in so much as it relates to brigade units. There's still plenty of other folks out there who don't get this PT time., and are told that they should do PT on their own time. What we need to do is inculcate a culture of fitness in the CF. A culture that starts at the top, but also starts from day 1 of a person's career and carries on until retirement.

I recollect doing predeployment training at a US base one tour and virtually every single soldier was doing PT first thing in the morning.

This!  I am working in Kingston right now and I can tell you I and a select few others are the only ones that do PT at work.  No work is that important that you cannot have PT time be from 0800 to 1000 every morning.  When we are not at war, we should be making sure our bodies are fine tuned machines ready to do the business at a moments notice.  I do PT every morning and have had a few people give me funny looks and some funny comments but I will not bend and slide into the culture of the coffee slurping, cigarette smoking, desk surfer!

 

[Infanteer]

We need to move beyond "Well the CDS said" and "DAOD says this" and make real incentives.  The US Military scores the annual PT test.  Meet the minimum standard, and you get minimum points, max the test, you get max points.

PERs are moving to a simple system - pass FORCE and you get to go to a merit board, don't pass and you aren't looked at.  This isn't good enough.  We need a system where FORCE failures are put on the administrative track, FORCE minimums get 1 point on their PER and some graded score can allow members who surpass the standard to get 2 to a maximum of 5 points on the PER.  What's a better incentive to promote a fitness culture then having COs who enforce a standard having all their guys getting 4-5 points at merit boards while less dedicated units are getting 1-2?

Tie fitness to promotions, money and career advancement and you'll see a cultural shift in the CAF.

 

[GAP]

Do you not get into personalities doing the scoring then?

 

[McG]

Do you not get into personalities doing the scoring then?

As long as the fitness points are based on measurable/quantifiable performance in a fitness test, there is no room for personalities to influence those points.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

We need to move beyond "Well the CDS said" and "DAOD says this" and make real incentives.  The US Military scores the annual PT test.  Meet the minimum standard, and you get minimum points, max the test, you get max points.

PERs are moving to a simple system - pass FORCE and you get to go to a merit board, don't pass and you aren't looked at.  This isn't good enough.  We need a system where FORCE failures are put on the administrative track, FORCE minimums get 1 point on their PER and some graded score can allow members who surpass the standard to get 2 to a maximum of 5 points on the PER.  What's a better incentive to promote a fitness culture then having COs who enforce a standard having all their guys getting 4-5 points at merit boards while less dedicated units are getting 1-2?

Tie fitness to promotions, money and career advancement and you'll see a cultural shift in the CAF.

Great suggestion, I actually find it kind of funny that fitness is not tied to our promotion schemes yet things which have very little impact on our ability to fight wars like French proficiency and having multiple graduate degrees gives a person big time points.  Education is definitely important, especially at the higher levels of the officer corps but should the ability to function in both languages be held at a higher importance then physical fitness?

 

[Canadian.Trucker]

...the culture of the coffee slurping, cigarette smoking, desk surfer!

Why you gotta point me out like that?  And besides, my surf board has cool things like post-it notes, paperclips and a high spead stamp with my signature block on it.

All humour aside, PT and fitness in the CAF is something that I have noticed is slipping to a bad point.  I complete agree with your comments Drew that a fitness standard needs to be regularly maintained so that at a very short notice anyone can go and do the job.  The military as a culture needs to foster and develop a focus on PT, it's quite literally in our blood.

 

[Monsoon]

Great suggestion, I actually find it kind of funny that fitness is not tied to our promotion schemes yet things which have very little impact on our ability to fight wars like French proficiency and having multiple graduate degrees gives a person big time points.  Education is definitely important, especially at the higher levels of the officer corps but should the ability to function in both languages be held at a higher importance then physical fitness?

How is promotion not tied to fitness? If you haven't passed the fit test, you can't get promoted. If you can't pass it after repeated attempts, you get released. They won't release you over a second language profile.