Photo By Spc. Moniqua Woods | Spc. Anthony Constancio, assigned to Bravo Battery, 4th Battalion, 27th Field...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT BLISS, Texas - The Iron Thunder commander, Lt. Col. Brandon C. Anderson, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, implemented a new physical fitness program called - the Iron Thunder Tactical Athlete Program, here, March 2.
The ITTA program includes a competition held during the first week of the month where soldiers compete in pushups, sit-ups, a two-mile run, and weight lifting.
“Because of their hectic schedules in the field, soldiers may not have time to exercise regularly as at home,” said Maj. Samuel J. Nirenberg, 4-27 FA, battalion executive officer. “Therefore a lot of them come back home out of shape.”
Nirenberg established ITTA prior to Network Integration Exercise 15.2, a five-week field training exercise. Not everyone works at the same time during the field exercise and that makes it hard to come up with a normal physical training schedules, and the soldiers are left up to their own to exercise, said Nirenberg. He also said in order to motivate the soldiers and reduce recovery time needed to get back in shape, he set up a weight gym in the field.
“There isn’t any recovery for our bodies once we get back from the field,” said Sgt. Kelby J.D. Mckinney, 4-27 FA, command driver. “We have to maintain our physical fitness the same way we maintain our equipment.”
Due to the success of the weight gym, Nirenberg looked for more ways to promote and encourage the soldiers to remain “iron thunder” ready outside of the field. For the month of August about 30 officers and enlisted soldiers participated in a fun competition to test their strengths. The officers lead the way and were able to outperform the enlisted soldiers, said 1st Lt. Travis P. David, 4-27 FA, battery executive officer and winner of the pushup competition.
“It’s a competition, and you are in it to win it,” said Pfc Kelly T. McDuffie, 4-27 FA, cannon crew member. “If you don’t win, there isn’t anything wrong with that. You just know you have to workout more so you can win the next time.”
Soldiers, like McDuffie, have started preparing for next month’s competition. Not only do they work hard during physical training, but they also workout on their own, said McDuffie. He also said he does at least 100 sit-ups at night before bed and he feels confident that he will be able to knock the officers out of the leading positions.
Even though there is a rivalry growing against the officers and enlisted soldiers, David said it brings everyone together and builds moral because everyone cheers and encourages those who compete, especially when it is someone from their battery.
“It’s that Esprit de Corps,” said David. “It builds up moral to push others to try and beat my score, but I can’t allow that to happen. Next month I’m going to do even more so that I can stay on top.”
“As time passes, we are looking to add more competitions to the program such as: a 12-mile ruck march, swimming and relay team events,” said Nirenberg. “I am confident that the soldiers’ physical training test scores will begin to increase because of this program. The battery will be fitter for combat and they will be “iron thunder ready.”
| Date Taken: | 03.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2015 15:13 |
| Story ID: | 176116 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 200 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 4-27 in shape in and out of the field, by SPC Moniqua Woods, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
