The Marine Corps is losing its soul and its mind to politically correct bullshit. Of all the different forms of nonsense that are being pushed onto Marines, we now have a holistic guide to fitness. Read about it here...but check this out from the Commanders Guide....
What I do know is this. Physical Fitness has been bastardized into something that its not. Its not hard. It doesn't take coordinators, or Religious Ministry Team Members....it takes dedication and will power.
You workout, you eat right and you get enough rest.
Its simple. In bootcamp you're taught a few basic exercises that can be done in a confined space-anywhere in the world. This holistic fitness program is to complicate the simple. We have got to be better than this.
Sidenote:
I COULD EASILY BE WRONG...but I sense Ms. Obama's hand in this. She's been pushing a "healthy" agenda and since she's not getting any traction in the civilian world, its just too easy to ORDER the military to do it. Like I said. I could be wrong.
MCFIT Coordinator– oversees the use of MCFIT within theI'm not getting this.
unit. Assignment of the MCFIT Coordinator - The commander using
MCFIT must assign a coordinator to oversee the entire process of
using MCFIT, to include the security of the responses and signin
sheet, and preparing the commander’s report. The coordinator
for phase one of the MCFIT can be any Marine in the unit,
however, a unit’s Religious Ministry Team (RMT) is recommended
for the task. Care should be taken to avoid the coordinator
being any lower than a Sergeant.
What I do know is this. Physical Fitness has been bastardized into something that its not. Its not hard. It doesn't take coordinators, or Religious Ministry Team Members....it takes dedication and will power.
You workout, you eat right and you get enough rest.
Its simple. In bootcamp you're taught a few basic exercises that can be done in a confined space-anywhere in the world. This holistic fitness program is to complicate the simple. We have got to be better than this.
Sidenote:
I COULD EASILY BE WRONG...but I sense Ms. Obama's hand in this. She's been pushing a "healthy" agenda and since she's not getting any traction in the civilian world, its just too easy to ORDER the military to do it. Like I said. I could be wrong.
first i must say i wouldnt be so quick to put Ms. Obama on this, i highly doubt she has anything in this as it would be political suicide for her husband. Another point, from the article "the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps convened a resiliency working
ReplyDeletegroup, which produced the Marine Total Fitness construct. Fitness is more than physical fitness; it also includes fitness of mind, fitness of spirit, and social fitness."
i agree with the above statement, physical fitness is not the only requirement. with people doing 12+ month multiple tours, major issues within families, huge mental health concerns this is long time in coming. suicide rates are unacceptably high and its time this is taken into account, civilian medicine has been using holistic treatment models for medical conditions for years and has gained wide acceptance with strong data to support it, this is the marines waking up to the 21st century and the realities of modern warfare.
first its a political year and anything thats done in a political year can be suspect...second i consider homosexuality unfit...yet thats now accepted so who is going to be the judge of all this...last you've never been a Marine so spare me your 21st century musings about modern warfare.
ReplyDeletewell i am unsure how you declare homosexuality unfit? fitness is the ability perform a set of assigned tasks, if they can complete those tasks sufficiently to do their job then how is it unfit? your right about whos going to judge all of this, hence the fitness program, medical practitioners see if you are "fit" to do the job, if so you serve, if not you aren't sent out, or let in the military.
ReplyDeletei used your own words. you first described fitness as...Fitness is more than physical fitness; it also includes fitness of mind, fitness of spirit, and social fitness."
ReplyDeletemy point is that when you start to complicate something as simple as physical fitness an organization like the USMC becomes lost.
you could get a perfect score on the physical fitness test, composed of pullups, situps and a three mile run, but under this new system you could be declared unfit.
you could score poorly on the physical fitness test but by your standards be deemed more fit than a Marine that works out, eats right and gets enough sleep.
its bullshit. and the military is different so i don't care what the civilian world does. the civilian world doesn't demand that you sleep on the ground in extreme heat or cold and then go out and risk your life.
there is a difference.
well i understand that but they are looking at promoting fitness overall which is necessary, you shouldnt send someone out in combat taht is having panic attacks, severe anxiety, psychosis, bi-polar. A person will be less effective if they are worried about loved ones at home and issues like that, so psychological and connections to religious leaders help people remain in the best shape possible. Look at the PTSD rates, mTBI and other issues, the armys Gold Book looks at the issues they are facing: http://www.army.mil/article/72086/.
ReplyDeletetowards the the beginning of the document it says:
"a. Background of the Health and Discipline of the Force
Army senior leaders have been preparing for the strategic reset over the last few years, even while sustaining Title 10 support to contingency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have been mindful of the appreciable ‘wear and tear’ Soldiers and equipment have accrued over ten years of war fought in extremely difficult and demanding environments. Early signs of these effects on Soldiers and Families prompted the establishment of the Army Health Promotion and Risk Reduction (HP&RR) Task Force in early 2009. After 18 months, the body of its work—findings and conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations—were published in the Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention (HP/RR/SP), Report 2010, also known as the Red Book. The report reaffirmed Army efforts to reduce stress on the Force, presumably related to the demands of a wartime operational tempo (OPTEMPO), and most often associated with combat‐related wounds, injuries and illnesses; repetitive and lengthy separations; and broader economic conditions. Analyses suggest that this stress was increasingly placing Soldiers at risk, Soldiers who were suffering from physical and behavioral health issues and in need of more vigilant leader oversight, risk mitigation and medical healthcare. But it also discovered a growing high ‐ risk population of Soldiers engaging in criminal and high ‐risk behavior with increasingly more severe outcomes including violent crime, suicide attempts and suicide, and accidental death. "
its clear the stresses of warfare are taking their toll more than physically, the Army and Marine Corps are recognizing that and with good reason. also check out DOD's real warriors program http://www.realwarriors.net/