Sgt. Daniel Guerrero
1ABCT Public Affairs

Photo by Sgt. Daniel Guerrero
3rd ID master fitness Soldiers demonstrate to instructors from the Army’s physical fitness school at Fort Jackson, S.C., how to properly administer and grade the “Drag” exercise at the Noncommissioned Officer Academy on Fort Stewart Sept. 11.

Army Combat Fitness Test instructors
from the Army Physical Fitness
school on Fort Jackson, South Carolina,
conducted training for 3rd Infantry
Division master fitness Soldiers, at the
Noncommissioned Officers Academy
on Fort Stewart, Sept. 11.
The instructors’ goal was to train and
certify the level 3 master fitness trainers
to properly administer the new ACFT
and develop a unit training program
tailored to the ACFT. Level 3 Soldiers
are the NCOs that are currently master
fitness trainers for their respective
units. Level 2 Soldiers include the officers
and NCOs in charge of ensuring
grading is done to standard, and level
1 Soldiers are the graders.
“From a level 3 perspective, these
Soldiers will be able to bring back to
their units, the skills and understanding
to better advise their commanders on
how to design and implement a new
training program for the ACFT,’’ said
Sgt 1st Class Darwin Zapata, an ACFT
instructor from the Army Physical
Fitness school on Fort Jackson.
Although the 3rd ID master fitness
Soldiers will be able to return to their
units trained and certified, there is still
some obstacles to face. However, units
are still able to conduct ACFT training
with a little resourcing.
“The biggest obstacle units will face
is getting the equipment, but the equipment
is slowly on the way,” said Zapata.
“Units can work together and borrow
equipment or utilize the equipment
from gyms.”
The new PT test involves a lot of different
exercises to test Soldiers on not
only their endurance, but their strength
as well. With these new exercises, there
is higher risk of injury if they are not
performed correctly. The 3rd ID Soldiers
not only learned the standards of the
ACFT, they were also trained to teach
proper techniques to avoid injury to
Soldiers.
“The intent of this training is to
ensure we have graders that are
knowledgeable on the assessment and
what is to be expected,” said Staff Sgt.
Britney St. Germain, a master fitness
trainer from the 2nd Battalion, 7th
Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored
Brigade Combat Team. “We will have
graders that are actually able to
observe Soldiers and let them know
if they are doing things incorrectly in
order to avoid injuries.”
As the ACFT equipment slowly rolls
out, units can use the equipment currently
at their disposal to start training
now that they have trained master
fitness leaders who know the standard
and can develop training programs
geared toward the new ACFT.