Photo By Sgt. Brian Johnson | Spc. Lee Owens from Grand Rapids, Mich., takes the lead during the two-mile run event...... read more read more
BAGHDAD — The Physical Fitness Badge for physical fitness excellence is awarded to Soldiers who aspire to excel at the Army Physical Fitness Test. To receive the badge, Soldiers must score a minimum of 90 points in each of the three events; push-ups, sit-ups and the two-mile run.
Five Soldiers from the Convoy Security Team of 1434th Engineer Company were able to obtain that achievement on their most recent APFT, each of them earning the coveted badge.
This accomplishment is particularly significant because of the improvement that the Soldiers have made since their last APFT.
"When we took our first [APFT] ... at the start of the 1434th's mobilization, nine of 20 Soldiers in the platoon failed the test," explained Staff Sgt. Ray Tompkins from Hartland, Mich., the CST commander.
Since that day, Tompkins has reinforced the importance of physical training, reminding the Soldiers that the standards for PT were very important to him.
"PT and the standards are there for a reason. It is something that I have a lot of respect for and I hold very high," said Tompkins.
According to the Soldiers, they took it upon themselves to improve their scores by going to the gym in their free time. They wanted to set the standards for the company and the battalion for their physical fitness level.
"The Soldier really needs to place considerable focus on not only muscular endurance strength in the abs and upper body, but the cardio endurance as well," explained the highest enlisted Soldier of 1434th Eng. Company, 1st Sgt. Tim Lamphere.
The hard work paid off April 3.
Spc. Lee Owens, from Grand Rapids, Mich., improved his score by more than 25 points. While he was consistently scoring in the 270's before, since Owens joined the CST, he was been able to score 300 points.
"I eat a lot healthier and work out more since joining the team," said Owens. "The hardest event for me is the sit-up. With a lot of hard work, I was able to do well on that this time.
Owens also ran the fastest time in the two-mile run event, completing it 11 minutes. For Owens' age bracket, anything under 13 minutes awards 100 points.
According to Lamphere, for five Soldiers in the same platoon to receive a Physical Fitness Badge is a tremendous accomplishment.
"It is simply amazing," said Lamphere.
With achieving such results, for Tompkins' team, there are many individual success stories. For Tompkins, one story stands out the most in his mind.
"For our team, the biggest success story is the team going from nine failures to zero failures, with five Physical Fitness Badges. That alone is a success story by itself," said Tompkins.
| Date Taken: | 04.13.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2010 06:51 |
| Story ID: | 48062 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 522 |
| Downloads: | 424 |
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