Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris | Spc. Randon Brewer, a Soldier serving with the Army Reserve’s 431st Civil Affairs...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – Serving as a Citizen-Soldier while also working as a full-time civilian diesel technician and raising a child as a single mom would fill up anybody’s plate.
As Spc. Randon Brewer discovered, making room on that plate for exercise and proper nutrition has proved to be quite a challenge, to the point where she currently does not meet the Army’s height/weight and physical-fitness standards.
That’s why when her master sergeant told her about the U.S. Army Reserve’s new “Double Eagle” Fit for Life pilot program being hosted here by the 99th Readiness Division, Brewer raised her hand to volunteer without hesitation.
“He knew that I wanted to stay in the Army and that I’m within a year of my re-enlistment date,” explained Brewer, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the Army Reserve’s 431st Civil Affairs Battalion stationed in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Fit for Life program is designed to help Soldiers who are not meeting the Army height/weight and/or physical fitness standards. F2L offers training in physical readiness, fitness, nutrition, finance, and Soldier skills such as first aid, land navigation, marksmanship and resiliency.
F2L also gives Soldiers access to subject-matter experts such as master fitness trainers, master resilience trainers, drill sergeants and Department of the Army civilians.
“(The F2L cadre) talk a lot about nutrition, portioning your food, and working out,” said Brewer, a 7-year Army veteran. “They allow us to have optional PT in the evenings too, so we’re pretty much working out all day.”
Brewer added that she and her fellow F2L participants are bonding and supporting each other throughout the two-week event, ensuring that no Soldier is left behind.
“We’ve only known each other for four or five days, and we’ve already become close friends. We really push each other, and that makes it a lot easier.,” Brewer said. “We double-timed back from PT yesterday, and it was kind of rough on everybody, but we made sure nobody fell out of formation.”
Brewer said that besides the obvious benefits of being able to pass her height/weight and Army Physical Fitness Test requirements, F2L is giving her an education in proper nutrition that will last her and her family a lifetime.
“I’m a single mom; I have a little three-year-old child at home, and I always want him to eat better,” she said. “Learning about the foods that are best for you to eat and what’s not good for you to eat makes it easier for me to feed my household and have him grow up a lot healthier.”
| Date Taken: | 08.09.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2018 14:02 |
| Story ID: | 288013 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ, US |
| Web Views: | 171 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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