Photo By Spc. Moniqua Woods | Sgt. Jin Kim assigned to 4th Battalion, 27th FA Regiment, DIVARTY, 1st AD, rests on...... read more read more
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EL PASO, Texas - Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, Division Artillery, 1st Armored Division, mixed up their normal physical fitness training routine by tackling the Air Assault Obstacle course, Nov. 10.
The air assault competition is part of 4th Bn., 27th FA Regt.’s, monthly Iron Thunder Tactical Athlete program developed by Maj. Samuel J. Nirenberg, executive officer, 4th Bn., 27th FA Regt., DIVARTY, 1st AD, to promote and encourage his Soldiers to remain “Iron Thunder” ready.
“The obstacle course is great because it gets the Soldiers out of the office to do physical fitness and gives the unit a chance to build camaraderie,” said 1st Lt. Jillian K. Mueller, officer in charge of the event, 4th Bn., 27th FA Regt., DIVARTY, 1st AD. “It also allows Soldiers to challenge themselves to do things they would otherwise be scared to do, for example climbing down a 33-foot cargo net.”
The obstacle course has nine different challenges: the incline wall, belly over, vaults, confidence climb, tough one, high step up, swing stop and jump, and the weaver. The entire course is designed to exhaust all of your muscles, said Staff Sgt. Andrew L. Smith, assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of the air assault school, Iron Training Detachment, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Armored Division.
“The hardest obstacle, for about 80 percent that go through the course, is the belly over,” Smith said. “Because most of them are vertically challenged.”
The belly over requires Soldiers to stand on a lower horizontal beam and maintain balance without using their hands. Then they jump on top of a higher horizontal beam, landing on their belly. Finally, they rotate over the beam and land on their feet.
“I enjoyed the course,” said Pfc. Kailiano P. Victor, assigned to 4th Bn., 27th FA Regt., DIVARTY, 1st AD. “But by the end I was exhausted and did not want to do the last obstacle; but I pressed through and finished.”
Victor said he would love the unit to practice on the course more often for PT because it gets Soldiers away from the redundancy of their normal routines. It also gives them a chance to practice some air assault techniques. Maybe doing the course more often will encourage Soldiers to become air assault qualified, Victor said.
“We encourage units to come out as much as possible,” Smith said. “Not only does it give the Soldiers a chance to go through the course, but it also gives us as instructors an opportunity to stay fresh during the off cycles.”
Smith said a unit is welcome to workout at the course during the workweek; call to make a reservation. If requested, the air assault instructors will conduct the course the same way they would during actual air assault training.
The tower and the confidence course can also be reserved. Soldiers can also come without a reservation Thursdays from 6:30 – 8:30 a.m.
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.24.2015 22:22 |
| Story ID: | 182812 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 98 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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