Army Rethinking Health, Fitness Strategy

Bigger, faster, stronger; maybe more like healthier and more physically fit, but the U.S. Army is attempting to reinvent its image – or at least trim it down. December 1 the Army debuted its new look at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

The basic training installation is the first base in the Army's transformation project to switch to healthier foods and aerobic-oriented exercise. An emphasis on injury prevention and diet education are also pillars of the change.

Aerobic regiments like Crossfit and yoga have replaced the Army's long-established emphasis on the push-up and the timed run. Food choices like whole grains, yogurt, and granola bars now fill the Fort Leonard Wood's dining facility.

The Missouri installation is the first of five training bases on the docket for the change, with Oklahoma's Fort Sill also on the list.

Oklahoma Army National Guardsman Zach McDonald says he is excited about the Army's efforts and is looking forward to seeing these new concepts in his unit.

"The things that they're wanting to implement, I think, are a good thing," he said, adding, "the way the PT [physical training] test is structured now is pretty mundane, it doesn't really show physical fitness."

McDonald and his critiques are in influential company. In April, Mission: Readiness, an organization of retired military leaders, was also critical of current health and fitness structures, and authored a letter to today's military petitioning for better ideals.

Too Fat to Fight, offered a slew of statistics specifically targeting the health of young adults. "At least nine million 17- to 24-year-olds in the United States are too fat to serve in the military," the report reads. "That is 27 percent of all young adults."

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling offered a different take as he told the Colombia Daily Tribune many of the health issues facing the Army are inherited, and gave insight into the Army's new domestic strategy.

"We are seeing many soldiers entering our profession who need phased conditioning methods and improved nutritional habits. This is not an Army problem. This is a civilian problem that we're receiving and fixing," he said. "We've changed from feeding soldiers to fueling the tactical athlete."

McDonald, an infantryman and student at the University of Oklahoma, says he thinks aerobic programs like Crossfit could help his unit in combat, a major improvement from the current training.

"In Afghanistan you're walking mountains with your weight plus another 80 to 90 pounds on your back, so if you don't have cardio and you can't throw your own weight around, I wouldn't think you could walk up a mountain," he said. "I think anything that they do is definitely a step forward from what they have now."

For more from McDonald, click below for both audio and video portions of the interview.