Army Soldier’s Fitness in the US and Saudi Arabia

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Introduction

The U.S. Army is working all around the world, with thousands of soldiers both actively deployed and in training. At the same time, the Saudi Army aims to fight the insurgency before full-scale military operations in Yemen, which is why soldiers must have proper physical training. Soldiers must be adequately educated, trained, and instructed to fulfill the military’s many objectives. Proper preparation enables each part of the military complex to operate smoothly, completing mission objectives, and serving the nation. However, for every soldier to follow instructions and avoid injury, the Army must prepare soldiers physically.

Currently, the fitness education system, training, and management poorly fulfill their role, leading to an increased rate of accidents, injuries, and diminished results. All aspects of the problem will be discussed, including an appropriate background discussion. The extraordinarily high level of physical fitness and recreation for the military is emphasized. Then, it will be necessary to outline the current principles of physical preparation within the military to highlight their potential for improvement. In the problem section, the inability of the Army to educate its subjects, along with some of the general trends regarding physical fitness in the US, Saudi Arabia, and the world’s militaries. Potential solutions viewed through the lens of the DOTMLPF-P framework, enabling the proper pathways toward change.

Background

Fitness plays one of the most significant roles in the military, both for those engaged in confrontations (military actions) and those working from a distance. Current trends indicate that the military has consistently emphasized good physical preparedness and the ability of soldiers to fit under a strict set of parameters (Knapik et al., 2018). This is a vital component of the military training process that people have to support regularly and consistently.

Army doctrine to define the importance of fitness

Physical activity and good athletic preparation fulfill many Army objectives, supporting soldiers’ mental and physical needs. First, regular physical activity aids soldiers in keeping a consistent schedule, always being prepared for deployment or other orders (Reed, n.d.). Second, fitness relieves stress, manages a high-pressure job, and relaxes. Similarly, maintaining good physical condition helps stimulate brain activity, an irreplaceable component of working in the Army (Reed, n.d.). Third, high-quality physical fidelity required for many of the military’s actual objectives, such as engaging in training or active combat (Reed, n.d.). Fitness works as a tool helping soldiers overcome obstacles, operate specialized machinery, and respond to danger.

Physical activity and fitness have a significant position in selecting potential soldiers for the Army. For example, the recruiter evaluates the general physical condition of the prospective soldier. This emphasizes the significance of physical activity and represents an essential factor for the soldier. This is because he has to do one minute of push-ups and one more minute of sit-ups, and after the exercise, he has to run one mile for speed. Accordingly, the U.S. Army seriously considers the person’s physical fitness; if it is not sufficient, then the recruit will refuse to serve in the Army (Reed, n.d.). Crucially, soldiers from Saudi Arabia participate in multinational military exercises, so they want to demonstrate good physical fitness (Reed, n.d.). Moreover, Saudi Arabia organizes the Arab Military Symposium on Physical Training to assess the physical condition of soldiers and assist them in adjusting to emergencies. This testifies to the central value of physical activity and fitness for the Saudi Army.

Pre-Army Attitudes towards Fitness and Preparation

Maintaining physical activity and health is a conscious process, requiring proper education, practice, and attitude. Scientific and popular literature emphasizes the need to promote lifelong physical activity. This process includes various types of exercise throughout life, each fit for the needs and capabilities of an individual. Promoting lifelong exercise attitudes within the population is a goal of many educational institutions, including schools and universities. Significantly, the armies worldwide, such as the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, attempt to encourage soldiers to maintain their physical condition at an improved level. Commonly accepted attitudes regarding sports play a vital role in helping the Army maintain the physical activity of soldiers. People accustomed to exercise and the routine of training can more easily adapt to a military regime. Additionally, it takes the Army less time to properly train and prepare people when they arrive in good physical health. Therefore, accessing the capacity of most recruits to partake in regular physical exercise is essential to discuss the Army training of soldiers.

The Problem

The design of the Army and its facilities allow individuals to train continuously, accomplishing tasks set before them. The training includes a variety of activities, engaging all relevant parts of the body. However, discussions regarding military fitness highlight a lack of consistent and effective strategies for improving levels of combat readiness (Clark, 2020).

The Army does not Provide Soldiers with Sufficient Levels of Fitness

The training conducted in the Army leaves much to desire in preparing soldiers for their future duties and deploying troops who are ill suited for their actual responsibilities. A need for a new and consistent approach toward supporting military fitness exists. According to the modern war institute data, 55% of soldiers spend a significant part of the year in-field training. At the same time, rarely is a physical exercise done regularly with enough attention (Clark, 2020). An inability to provide soldiers with a consistent and reliable way to build up fitness severely diminishes the capacity of soldiers in the field.

While the need for physical ability is well known, the impact of continuous learning and training often comes under the radar. In addition, the resource states that field training is taking up an increasing amount of time (Clark, 2020). One of the primary problems in promoting better physical fitness comes from Army leadership and its outlook on the concept of fitness related to other military needs. In particular, soldier preparation tends to place a greater emphasis on tactical education and training. It is essential to emphasize that it is important for soldiers to become physically fit and not exhausted to perform combat missions. Accordingly, in the United States and Saudi Arabia, commanders have to find solutions to enhance the physical condition of the soldiers to ensure that combat missions are not stressful for their organisms.

Other problems concern some of the principles that come into preparing soldiers. Regular training exercises do not occur because they impede the authenticity of military training, which emphasizes realism in training (Clark, 2020). Considerations of lower resources or trouble with maintaining the same quality of training as in the garrison often further impede the maintenance of a training regime. Adding to the subject of preparation, the importance of rest has to be touched on as well (Clark, 2020). Sufficient sleep and other types of recovery are part of consistent physical training, and proper planning becomes a more critical need when commanders focus on supporting their troops. It is imperative that soldiers have sufficient time to regenerate.

Soldiers are Often Expected to Perform Heavy-Duty Tasks

The volume and difficulties of work in the Army are outlined in the study materials. One of the notable examples involves the need to carry heavyweights. As researchers discuss, Army duty require soldiers to carry weights exceeding 45kg, which puts significant strain on the body (Orr et al., 2021). The increased weight reduces endurance and increases energy costs for troops. In addition, the circumstances regarding carrying loads are often difficult due to the need to perform tactical maneuvers (Orr et al., 2021). Extreme contexts regarding the need to have weights often result in various types of injury. One in three soldiers may suffer minor injuries and one in four severe injuries. Musculoskeletal injuries and neurological injuries are the most prominent examples of this tendency (Orr et al., 2021). While specific pathways towards recovery and re-conditioning exist, consistent exposure to heavy loads is detrimental to individual soldiers and their squads.

The Solution

The paper has the potential to use the DOTMLPF-P approach to highlight many of the most critical areas of the military transformation strategy. According to AcqNotes (2021):

DOTMLPF-P is a tool that allows senior leaders the ability to analyze their organizational capabilities from the perspective of “Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership, Personnel, Facilities, and Policy” when making future strategic decisions. When they determine a change need in their current strategic capabilities, a DOTMLPF-P Change Recommendation (DCR) is issued (Para. 2).

It is crucial to emphasize aspects of training, management, education, facilities, and policy because they constitute a vital part of soldiers’ physical training. Training concerns the way physical wellness maintained in the Army, including the existing and new potential pathways for growth. Leadership and education are responsible for creating a strong military training system, scheduling, and directing the actions within the Army. Similarly, facilities and policies ensure that all personnel have the proper tools and guidelines for administering change. Using these essential components as a guideline, it is possible to change how physical training performed in the military (AcqNotes, 2021).

Training and Doctrine

Present training routines emphasize field training and lack a thorough engagement in physical exercise. In order to evoke positive change, the Army must use integrated approaches that combine both field training and physical training more cohesively (Clark, 2020). Giving soldiers a continuous source of physical activity that is mandated, regulated, and structured will promote better physical condition and decrease the frequency of incidents, especially valuable for the Saudi Army, which aims to perform at its highest level during exercises in the region.

Leadership and Education

Military leadership is the core of introducing change, a necessary actor in giving the soldiers a way to train themselves. Firstly, leadership training should further emphasize the need to promote physical training for troops. This process will enable emerging and existing leaders to create strategies for increasing physical fitness. Secondly, leaders should consider the implications of insufficient rest for their troops and flaws in the existing training regime. Examining current systems gives way to change and replace them with better ones, inseparable from enacting change. For example, leaders can develop new charters in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia with precisely defined rest times calculated according to soldiers’ physical activity.

Facilities and Policy

In terms of facilities, leaders are required to ensure the successful integration of soldiers’ physical training into field preparation. In particular, if they include lightweight exercise equipment in the field, this is a perfect way to embody change. Correspondingly, the world’s armies should constantly update their soldiers’ equipment to provide them with an updated version of their equipment. That is because it will reduce injuries and the burden on the musculoskeletal system. Policies can used as an effective and strategic way of solidifying the principles of promoting physical training. Considering the proper implementation of physical exercise into all other parts of military training and extension of solely physical training throughout the preparation process can do through policy. Scheduling and the necessary ratios of each type of exercise must solidify into a universal but flexible principle.

Conclusion

Consequently, it is possible to note that common to the U.S. and Saudi Arabian armies are fitness problems in the military. Thus, when training soldiers, the leadership attempts to ensure their endurance during field exercises. However, soldiers need systematic physical training to perform combat missions. Hence, the administration should create systematic training plans for soldiers to ensure their stamina. At the same time, soldiers must have time to recuperate, which is why it is a significant component of successful training. Moreover, in conjunction with sufficient physical activity, soldiers need to be equipped to relieve and distribute the pressure on the body. Such solutions will enable soldiers to have a significant advantage over the enemy even during combat operations.

References

AcqNotes. (2021). DOTMLPF-P Analysis. Web.

Clark, M. (2020). The army has a physical fitness problem, Part 1: Eight myths that weaken combat readiness. Modern War Institute. Web.

Knapik, J. J., Redmond, J. E., Grier, T. L., & Sharp, M. A. (2018). Secular trends in the physical fitness of United States army infantry units and infantry soldiers, 1976–2015. Military Medicine, 183(11-12), e414-e426. Web.

Orr, R., Pope, R., Lopes, T. J., Leyk, D., Blacker, S., Bustillo-Aguirre, B. S., & Knapik, J. J. (2021). Soldier load carriage, injuries, rehabilitation and physical conditioning: An international approach.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(8), 4010. Web.

Reed, G. (n.d.). Why is physical fitness important to the military? Air University (AU). Web.

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