Developing Soldiers as athletes is a top priority. MG(R) Malcolm Frost, former Commanding General, Center for Initial Military Training, TRADOC, joins us today to discuss Army recruiting and training. He explains the background behind the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) in the broader context of the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) program, and its five pillars: physical fitness, physical readiness, mental readiness, spiritual readiness and performance, nutrition and sleep hygiene. The new ACFT tests 11 components that are good predictors of what Soldiers will need to do to prepare for the rigors of the job. It is geared towards changing the culture of fitness within the Army and at increasing physical readiness, when lack of fitness, health and muscular-skeletal injuries were leading to higher undeployable rates. MG Frost discusses the drawbacks to the old Physical Training (PT) approach, and emphasizes that the ACFT is the first big change we are seeing within the Army as part of the H2F program. He suggests that recruiting Soldiers who are also athletes, or developing athletes, will be an elevated priority moving forward. Army hopefuls might worry about the impact COVID-19 could have on recruitment, but MG Frost reminds us that the ACFT can be trained for at home, without special equipment. Additionally, recruiters have shifted to more online hiring sessions due to the pandemic, so potential recruits can meet them in a virtual environment. In a COVID world, we expect to see continued online interaction and continued H2F rollouts supporting our Soldier Athletes.

Additionally, we welcome our new co-host, LTC Brittany Woods, AUSA’s new U.S. Army Fellow, to her first podcast with us. Recommendations for future topics are welcome via email at [email protected].

• Guest: MG(R) Malcolm Frost, former Commanding General, Center for Initial Military Training, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)

Army Real Talk, a segment of AUSA’s Army Matters Podcast, aims to help AUSA and the Army better connect with the younger generation.

Resources:

Center for Initial Military Training

Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT)

Mission Readiness