Posted on Sep 27, 2018
Can you make it mandatory PT for SM's passing in the Reserves?
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Question for my superiors and peers. Looking from FM 7-22, and I know the regulations for how many times you can take a APFT for Reserve and Active. But can I as a junior NCO with the support of my chain of commander make it mandatory for my soldiers to do PT when not drilling? Is that even possible without Paying them? Can you make them come in for points only? Being new to the Reserve side I am trying to learn as much as I can.
Another thing is that most of my soldiers work various shifts too and some that live 150-200 miles away, and I don't want to interfere with them getting paid from the civilian side.
I am fortunate because I work on base as a UAT so I have access to the gym in the morning and after work. So it is easy for me to keep up and get a good workout routine. My NCOIC and myself started using Map My Run and had the soldiers log into it help keep them accountable. But so far it seems like I am the only one using it besides one of my soldiers.
Am I within my rights to make it mandatory for them to run at least 3 times a week and have it record on the app?
Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.
Another thing is that most of my soldiers work various shifts too and some that live 150-200 miles away, and I don't want to interfere with them getting paid from the civilian side.
I am fortunate because I work on base as a UAT so I have access to the gym in the morning and after work. So it is easy for me to keep up and get a good workout routine. My NCOIC and myself started using Map My Run and had the soldiers log into it help keep them accountable. But so far it seems like I am the only one using it besides one of my soldiers.
Am I within my rights to make it mandatory for them to run at least 3 times a week and have it record on the app?
Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.
APFT
Training NCO
Enlisted
Officer
Motivation
Edited 6 y ago
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 12
Negative. They're not yours until they sign in for battle assembly unfortunately.
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I'm about to take command and I have the company's PT level dead in my sights. My idea at the moment is to take all those who don't pass the APFT (which is next drill) and give them some "additional training" in that area to show them what their PT routine should look like. This training will be uncomfortable for them as they aren't in shape but necessary because they obviously don't know how to do PT.
At the next drill, they will take the APFT again. Those that pass are done. Those that don't get more training. This will continue for a few months until A) all SM's have passed the APFT, or B) They are processed out for not maintaining the Army standard. I'll track their progress over a couple of months. If they are making steady progress they may get more time. If they aren't making progress at all, then they aren't doing anything and I don't need them.
At the next drill, they will take the APFT again. Those that pass are done. Those that don't get more training. This will continue for a few months until A) all SM's have passed the APFT, or B) They are processed out for not maintaining the Army standard. I'll track their progress over a couple of months. If they are making steady progress they may get more time. If they aren't making progress at all, then they aren't doing anything and I don't need them.
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LTC Stephen C.
Commendable, MAJ (Join to see), and I sincerely hope you’re able to accomplish your goals. As an HHC commander in the USAR, I had way too many people pulling from above to implement anything that ambitious.
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LTC Stephen C.
CPT Lawrence Cable, of course we know that 10 lbs in a 5 lb bag is a small BLIVET! 20 lbs in a 10 lb bag is a medium blivet, and so on and so forth!
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CPT Lawrence Cable
LTC Stephen C. - Apparently your experiences were similar to mine. At Company level in an Engineer Battalion, the majority of the training schedule was dictated by the demands of DA, NGB, State Troop Command, the Battalion Headquarters and in our case, the demands of the 35th Division. When you put all those demands on the schedule, there wasn't a lot of things left that the Company Commander and local command element controlled. I would have had to have changes blessed by at least the BNCO, and probably Troop Command, and I would have serious doubts that they would have let me run a PT that wasn't the norm for the rest of the unit.
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SFC David Bentley
CPT (Join to see) - Hold on to that motivation: NCOs train, Officers provide guidance and that guidance needs to be based on AR 350-1, FM 7-22 and most important safety and your risk assessment. If you are a PT stud who does cross fit and you smoke that 45 year old SSG in your guard/reserve unit and he "felt a Pop" you just bought a drill weekend filling out LOD packets. I have been witness to as high as a 10% injury rate from BN runs. I wouldn't advise a LT or new company commander to tell me or my platoon that they are "going to smoke the shit out of everyone and teach you all a lesson" most of your Joes have the IG on speed dial and injured troops will not help your OER. AR 350-1 states special conditioning programs are appropriate for Soldiers who have difficulty meeting unit goals or Army standards. These programs are not punitive; their purpose is to improve the physical readiness of Soldiers. Special conditioning programs designed to accommodate these needs will be conducted during normal duty hours.
ARMYPRT.COM is a good resource.
ARMYPRT.COM is a good resource.
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Same with National Guard as well. Unfortunately we have no control over that in between drills. There is a few issues with trying to make a Soldier do that. If you are forcing them to do PT then you have to pay them. If you are paying them, that means they are getting credit/ a MUTA for it. If they are getting MUTA's then they could be over their required MUTA's before the years end. If that occurs then it normally takes an act of god or a powerful pen to sign off on the Soldier drilling extra MUTA's.
Also hypothetically, if you were allowed to make it mandatory, and someone got hurt, you wouldn't be able to write up an LOD because there wouldn't be any unit drill orders or individual orders. There for if it was a life altering injury it wouldn't be taken care of by the VA.
Suggestion, what I did when I had this problem was made this into a team building platoon/sqd cohesion moment. I stressed that this is merely a come at you will PT session and take what you want from it moment. Encourage everyone and specially those who really need it to come out. Make it centrally located. Preferable at a park or somewhere cool. We sometimes ran the canal downtown Indianapolis just for the IUPUI campus scenery if you know what I mean. LOL! I didn't do a lot of yelling or ridiculous PT exercises. I really wanted to make it fun and get my Soldiers off the couch. If they came out and did anything it was going to be better then the guaranteed nothing they were doing in between each drill weekend. Don't make it military structured at all. The goal is to get them to come back and start doing some kind of PT. Take that time to get to know them personally too. Maybe even end the PT session at a park picnic area for some hot dogs and cookout. If family members or friends came, even better. Play some home run derby, just anything. Make it fun. If they don't show a day or two no worries there should be enough others to show to compensate your time there. If they stop showing then follow up, but you can't make them until drill weekend.
Also hypothetically, if you were allowed to make it mandatory, and someone got hurt, you wouldn't be able to write up an LOD because there wouldn't be any unit drill orders or individual orders. There for if it was a life altering injury it wouldn't be taken care of by the VA.
Suggestion, what I did when I had this problem was made this into a team building platoon/sqd cohesion moment. I stressed that this is merely a come at you will PT session and take what you want from it moment. Encourage everyone and specially those who really need it to come out. Make it centrally located. Preferable at a park or somewhere cool. We sometimes ran the canal downtown Indianapolis just for the IUPUI campus scenery if you know what I mean. LOL! I didn't do a lot of yelling or ridiculous PT exercises. I really wanted to make it fun and get my Soldiers off the couch. If they came out and did anything it was going to be better then the guaranteed nothing they were doing in between each drill weekend. Don't make it military structured at all. The goal is to get them to come back and start doing some kind of PT. Take that time to get to know them personally too. Maybe even end the PT session at a park picnic area for some hot dogs and cookout. If family members or friends came, even better. Play some home run derby, just anything. Make it fun. If they don't show a day or two no worries there should be enough others to show to compensate your time there. If they stop showing then follow up, but you can't make them until drill weekend.
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