Two members of Fort Belvoir's senior enlisted leadership team stopped by the new Kawamura Human Performance Center Monday to take a tour and learn what the center will offer to servicemembers and civilians when it officially opens in the near future.
Command Sgt. Maj. Chester Grelock, current U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir CSM, and Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Guillory, incoming garrison CSM, met with Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation officials to discuss the types of fitness training the facility will provide, the array of specialized equipment available, staffing and class agendas.
Kim Mills, Fort Belvoir DFMWR director; Sheila Edwards, Fort Belvoir sports director; Joe Castro, DFMWR strength and conditioning specialist; George Dickson, DFMWR business operations officer; and Kristin Kinnamon, DFMWR chief of community recreation, conducted the tour and answered questions.
According to Edwards, the highly anticipated center will offer servicemembers and civilians who live, work and play on post a state-of-the-art fitness facility containing unique workout equipment not previously available at the installation.
"This facility is going to focus more on high-intensity functional training, along with elements of CrossFit. A lot of people want that and this will fill that niche," she said. "There's also going to be a lot of non-traditional equipment here -- a Jacob's Ladder, versa-climbers, and adaptive motion trainers that the military really likes because you can load those with weights like the loads you would carry downrange, about 80 pounds. And these machines will calculate that automatically. They help you train to get stronger and faster."
"It's about developing speed, power, strength and agility," added Castro.
The Kawamura Human Performance Center will also offer training programs in a group setting, Edwards said.
"We're hoping to offer CrossFit classes, maybe four a day, with maybe 12 people in them," she said. "It will still be self directed."
The Kawamura Human Performance Center aims to provide a wider range of services to the growing fitness-minded demographic on post, Edwards added.
Grelock said he found the tour a positive experience and feels the forthcoming opening of the gym will mark a major step for the installation.
"This facility, I think, puts us in the 21st century; this is going to add to our resilience and give us a higher level of workout. It's another tool," Grelock said. "We still have the functional fitness program, our normal gyms, and our regular outdoor recreation activities, and this will just give us more in the tool kit. So this is very complimentary to our overall fitness program."
Grelock also said that having a dedicated functional fitness facility on post will enhance opportunities for those seeking specialized fitness without taking away from Belvoir's existing offerings of more traditional programs.
"This goes beyond our expectations because some folks have taken whole fitness centers and turned them into human performance facilities, and in doing that, they have kind of the haves and have-nots," he said. "So having an appropriate sized facility dedicated to people who choose to focus on dynamic fitness routines won't take away from our other programs. Also, it's good being able to take a facility that was successfully used for something else and turn it into a human performance center. And it will provide opportunities to people to progress from beginner to intermediate and onward once the training wheels come off.
"I think, for Fort Belvoir, it's a step in the right direction and I think we'll see some immediate results and a lot of positive feedback."
For more information regarding the new Tactical Conditioning Facility at Fort Belvoir, call Sheila Edwards at (703) 806-4647.
Social Sharing