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HomeNews101st Airborne Soldiers graduate Master Fitness Trainer Course at Fort Campbell

101st Airborne Soldiers graduate Master Fitness Trainer Course at Fort Campbell

Written by Sgt. William White
Headquarters, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

Fort Campbell KY - 101st Airborne DivisionFort Campbell, KY – The Master Fitness Trainer Course is sweeping the Army, bringing sports nutrition and researched-backed exercise science down to the squad level by informing senior squad members.

On January 20th, 2016, MFT instructors from the U.S. Army Physical Fitness School in Fort Jackson, SC, dispatched to Fort Campbell, KY, to bring the science of physical training to officers and noncommissioned officers the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

“We say it all the time: PT is not the most important thing we do as a Soldier, but it’s the most important thing we do every day” said Staff Sgt. John Wood, a Master Fitness Trainer instructor with U.S. Army Physical Fitness School.

Sgt. 1st Class Liela Cowhig, a senior instructor for the Master Fitness Training Course, demonstrates how to position a Soldier before lifting him during an MFTC at Fort Campbell, Ky., Jan. 26, 2016. Cowhig and the other MFTC instructors spent two weeks at Fort Campbell teaching 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers about nutrition and exercise science. (Sgt. William White, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)
Sgt. 1st Class Liela Cowhig, a senior instructor for the Master Fitness Training Course, demonstrates how to position a Soldier before lifting him during an MFTC at Fort Campbell, Ky., Jan. 26, 2016. Cowhig and the other MFTC instructors spent two weeks at Fort Campbell teaching 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers about nutrition and exercise science. (Sgt. William White, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)

Wood said the goal of the course is to shape some of the Army’s most physically fit leaders into experts in physical readiness by giving them detailed instruction on PRT, exercise science, nutrition, anatomy and physiology, and much more.

“We conduct all the drills out of Field Manual 7-22 and assess their ability to conduct and lead those exercises,” he said. “Their first major gate is to pass that assessment.”

But MFT students learn elements of physical readiness that encompass far more than PRT alone.

Sgt. David Barner, an automated logistical specialist with 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), finishes a course evaluation after graduating the Master Fitness Trainer Course at Fort Campbell, Ky., Feb. 2, 2016. Barner is one of nearly 40 101st Soldiers who graduated the course. (Sgt. William White, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)“It’s a performance-oriented course,” he said. “There’s a practical application of the things that they learn.”

Wood reiterated that the goal is for MFTs to take what they learn to their units and help build a better-informed exercise culture throughout the Army.

Staff Sgt. Kason Rackley, infantryman and student of the MFT course, is excited to be a catalyst in building that culture.

Sgt. 1st Class Liela Cowhig, a senior instructor for the Master Fitness Training Course, uses an application to evaluate Soldiers' running technique during an MFTC at Fort Campbell, Ky., Jan. 26, 2016. Cowhig and the other MFTC instructors spent two weeks at Fort Campbell teaching 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers about nutrition and exercise science. (Sgt. William White, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)“I definitely want to educate my Soldiers on nutrition and injury prevention, but my biggest thing is motivation. If I can teach them how to do things properly and show them that they can get better the right way, once they have a taste of that progress, my feeling is that they will become addicted to it, and together we’ll have the motivation to show up to PT and be enthusiastic about it.”

Rackley said that PRT is only a foundational piece of a units’ PT needs and that a unit’s leadership must identify how to expand on it based on job requirements. He also said that commanders should utilize MFTs to their full advantage during training.

“The overall goal is to educate our units because there’s a lot that the Army doesn’t know and isn’t necessarily doing it right on the individual unit level,” he said. “That could be corrected to help prevent the injuries that are going on and help sustain better physical fitness within the units.”

Rackley said that along with better knowledge of nutrition, injury mitigation and technique, a well-planned program will decrease injuries and increase a unit’s combat effectiveness.

“If you follow this regimen, then apply your own knowledge during workout routines, then it’s a sure way to progress and stay healthy at the same time,” he said.

Staff Sgt. William Webb, a Master Fitness Trainer Course instructor, lifts Staff Sgt. John Wood, also an instructor, during a demonstration of the Soldier carry at an MFTC at Fort Campbell, Ky., Jan. 26, 2016. The instructors are part of a mobile training team that travels to Army posts to teach Soldiers phase two of the MFTC over a two-week period. (Sgt. William White, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)After a physically and academically challenging three weeks, which was extended from two weeks due to heavy snowfall at Fort Campbell, Rackley and the other MFT students of class 16-705 graduated, leaving with an additional skill identifier and a vast knowledge of exercise science and nutrition, which Rackley believes every Soldier should have.

“Every Soldier and NCO should be intimately familiar with this program. I think from here it should progress to all NCOs, and anybody that plans on becoming a leader in the Army should have intimate knowledge of this.”

Students of the Master Fitness Trainer Course conduct the lunge walk during the Physical Readiness Training execution phase of the MFTC at Fort Campbell, Ky., Jan. 26, 2016. The students spend about half of the course conducting PRT exercises to standard in order to fix improper execution. (Sgt. William White, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)Wood said Soldiers interested in attending the course should contact their schools NCO and enroll in the phase-one portion of the course, which includes much of the exercise science knowledge students will build upon in the phase-two resident portion.

Candidates for the course must be in accordance with Army Regulation 600-9 and pass and Army Physical Fitness Test with a minimum of 240 points, with at least 70 points in each event, Wood said. The next course at Fort Campbell is scheduled to begin on May 2nd.

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