Fort Wainwright offers MFT

Photo By Staff Sgt. Mylinda Durousseau | Staff Sgt. William Lawson, aid station noncommissioned officer in-charge for 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, performs the tuck-jump exercise during a Physical Readiness Training session as part of the Master Fitness Trainer Class offered on Fort Wainwright April 16-May 15. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Mylinda DuRousseau)  

FORT WAINWRIGHT, ALASKA, UNITED STATES

05.08.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Mylinda Durousseau 

1st Brigade, 11th Airborne Division

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - It was a little before 8 a.m. on a Thursday morning and while most Fort Wainwright Soldiers headed to the showers 43 of their peers began their second hour of Physical Readiness Training as part of the Master Fitness Trainer Class.

The four-week class was taught by Capt. Todd Jones, Master Fitness Trainer mobile team lead, and his team of four instructors April 16–May 15, the first time it was offered here in 15 years.

“I’ve always wanted to do the course,” said Sgt. Jade Hill, a combatives instructor with 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Hill said she was disappointed when the class stopped being offered and quickly volunteered to go when it became available again.

Each student’s reason for attending the class was as varied as the Soldiers themselves but Jones’ goal was the same for each of them.

“It’s not about making them sweat, it’s about making them do it with precision,” said Jones.

An MFT serves as an additional-duty special advisor to unit commanders on the proper planning, implementation and execution of Physical Readiness Training.

“The MFT course is designed to show Soldiers the importance of what PRT is doing in the Army,” said Jones. “It also teaches Soldiers other realms beyond physical; we talk about nutrition, how it works and what makes the body work.”

Jones said the course highlights the injury-preventative nature of PRT compared to other programs. Students are required to create a PRT session for a Soldier with an injury, taking into account what they have learned about body movement and how it affects the injury.

“How to assist Soldiers when they’re on a profile, giving them a set of exercises and how to basically take care of them, by those guidelines I probably would be 100 percent compared to being the 90 percent I am today,” said Hill who has suffered from injuries in the past.

The class instruction includes the science of exercise, physical fitness assessment, exercise training principles, exercise prescription, exercise leadership and development of individual and unit physical readiness programs. Once students have mastered the components of the class they are ready to return to their unit and share the knowledge they have gained.

“I want to be able to give my Soldiers awesome training,” said Sgt. Bethaney Henderson, a squad leader with Brigade Support Battalion, 1/25 SBCT.

There are currently more than 2,300 certified MFTs in the Army. Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler has said there will be at least one MFT per company in the Army by 2015.

• Date Taken: 05.08.2014
• Date Posted: 05.13.2014 19:58
• Story ID: 129696
• Location: FORT WAINWRIGHT, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, US
• Hometown: FORT WAINWRIGHT, ALASKA, US