1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

Story by Spc. Richard Daniels Jr.

The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, recently adopted a new physical fitness regimen that is designed to make Soldiers stronger, faster and less injury prone both in garrison and while deployed.

The new, more flexible PT program dubbed the Eagle Tactical Athlete Program, is scheduled to begin, Aug. 3, for Bastogne Soldiers.

The program is a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Pittsburg and the U.S. Army and is aimed at reducing the number of injuries caused by classic Army PT.

"We are part of the experiment for the University of Pittsburg," said Cpt. Joshua Schneider, 1st BCT assistant chief of operations. "We're conducting basically the last part of the experiment, which is to see if there is an actual reduction in the numbers of injuries caused by doing traditional army physical fitness," he said.

In order to properly execute the new tactical program, some Bastogne Soldiers have undergone an exhaustive train the trainer class. Recently, Staff Sgt. Philip Dalhof, 1st BCT master gunner and Sgt. Kevin M. Cameron, S3 operation assistant, attended the class to learn the drills and to be able to share their knowledge with other Soldiers.

"It's a four day class," said Dalhof. "In the beginning they run you through the PT session, then after lunch they'd have classes," he said. "They brought in the division nutritionists and explained the science behind everything," said Dalhof.

Although the Soldiers expected an entirely new training program, they were surprised to find that a lot of what they already do, is being incorporated into the program.

"There is nothing new," said Dalhof. "They didn't reinvent the wheel when they came up with this. There are a lot of exercises that you do everyday during PT," he said. "It's just how you do them, how many you do, how long you do it, and they focus more on not breaking you off everyday but putting you into your ability group and then working from there," he said.

As Soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division know, the rigors of battle can be hard on the body and that is exactly the intent of the program: to prepare physically for battle.

The program places an emphasis on segregating Soldiers by ability groups and properly stretching throughout the session.

"The warm-up session is pretty different," said Cameron. "In regular PT you do seven to eight minutes of static stretching and two calistinics," he said. "What they've managed to do was take your stretching and your calistinics and put that together, so you get your heart rate up and your blood flowing while conducting your stretching exercises," he said.

Bastogne Soldiers will now PT in cycles designed not only to build strength but to gain endurance.

"They have a program broken down into an eight week cycle," said Schneider. "They have ready-made cards with all exercises that will be conducted, week one day one all the way through week eight day five. Once you get to the end of the eight-week cycle then you begin the program again," he said.

Fewer injuries, faster maneuverability, more endurance, and overall better quality of Soldier are expected from this PT program, said Schneider who is already well into the battle focused PT.
Soldiers and scientists alike expect great results from the program that for some may mean the difference between staying in the fight and throwing in the towel.

"You'll have a lot less rolled ankles," said Cameron. "Soldiers will be more used to shifting their body weight so they don't fall and hurt themselves," he said.

"The more you sweat during PT, the less you bleed in combat," is the mantra of the Bastogne warfighter who will be able to utilize ETAP whether at home or deployed.

"This PT program is designed to be deployment friendly," said Dalhof. "It doesn't take a lot of space, it doesn't take a lot of equipment, it can be done in small confined places such as the Forward Operating Base."

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