FORT BENNING, Ga., (Oct. 7, 2015) -- Graduating from the Fitness Training Unit's program brought privates together for the Soldiers' Cup competition. It consists of a series of about 10 timed events to challenge them both physically and mentally. It includes board questions, push-ups, sit-ups, dips and a hand-grenade throw.
The Fitness Training Unit ensures new Soldiers' fitness levels are comparable with their peers'. To motivate Soldiers, the unit has the competition each month. The winning team gets a trophy, the two top motivators are recognized and the most inspirational cadre receives recognition.
"It is a morale booster; they are pushing people toward achieving excellence," said Col. John Cushing, commander of the 194th Armored Brigade.
Many future Soldiers don't have the physical readiness to complete basic training without injury. Future Soldiers inprocessing through the 30th Adjutant General Reception Battalion can be sent to FTU to jumpstart their physical training. The unit is targeted toward Soldiers who have a propensity for injury or Soldiers who need to work toward improving their Army Physical Fitness Test score.
"It's about making sure that, as leaders, we do the right thing for the Army's most precious resources - the Soldiers," said Maj. Benjamin Bower, Fitness Training Unit commander. "You can't have human optimization performance without injury prevention, and I think that's a big reason why musculoskeletal injuries are a modern military epidemic. There is a focus on optimizing performance, the military expectation is to exceed the standard, but not everybody can just do more to become bigger, faster and stronger a lot of times it is about balancing and doing it the right way. Not just here, but giving them that foundation for the rest of their careers."
The Soldiers are screened at the 30th AG, and those prone to injury are sent to the initial entry training physical resilience enhancement program. The 22-day program, known as I-PREP, assists in building the Soldiers' initial base of muscles and teaches them about injury prevention as well as how to food and fitness contribute to becoming stronger and more resilient.
"It lets me know that when I finally get to basic, I'll be ahead of everybody else, but this place also teaches you things like trust, loyalty, the Army values, what life will be like in the barracks," said Pvt. Tyler Adam. "It gets your motivation up to where you get in the mindset of 'Yes, I can do this. I'm not going to quit.'"
The Soldiers needing to improve their APFT scores must have done well in all other areas of their training prior to graduation. The course is meant to help those who show the resiliency and desire to complete their training, but struggle to do so on their own.
"Some of the (Soldiers) are just not where they need to be in terms of ready to tackle all of the challenges that they are going to get - this is going to allow them to get faster, and improve their APFT scores and set them up for success later on in their career," Cushing said.
Lastly, the FTU trains Soldiers who have had an injury during training to get back up to speed with their peers.
Pvt. Nathaniel Norris, said he wished he had never gotten injured in the first place, but that the FTU drastically improved his fitness and gives him a head start when he gets back to basic training.
"I'm far more physically fit than I was originally," Norris said.
He said he found value in the battle buddy relationships he build within the FTU and the way they helped him stay motivated.
The Soldiers' Cup events are meant to challenge the Soldiers both physically and mentally, Bower said, to "inject a little fire, a little desire, build teamwork and camaraderie."
Norris and Adam's team won the Soldiers' Cup, and their team's name will go down in FTU history as winners.
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