JOINT BASE CHARLESTON –
I just returned from a meeting with Ashley Destefano, the program manager at the Health and Wellness Clinic on Joint Base Charleston-Air Base. She took the time to show me around the facility, introduced me to Greer Gowen, the HAWC dietician, and demonstrated some of the really cool toys they get to play with.
Did you know they have this time-capsule machine that will tell you how much body fat you actually have? Not only that, this machine will tell you how much of your body is muscle mass and how much percentage of your body is actually your organs.
Then Mrs. Destefano took me into another room that has a treadmill. There is a video camera attached to a computer that is pointed on the running pad, so the video can be slowed down and you can see for yourself what you look like when you run. The machine is designed to let you know if you are overpronating, underpronating, etc..., and that will help you choose the correct running shoes.
As we left the treadmill room, I stopped by a table that had two racks of test tubes. One set of test tubes contained samples of the amount of salt typically found in the everyday foods we eat. The other represented sugar. One of the test tubes contained about two teaspoons of salt, the average amount on just 13 potato chips, supposedly the amount of chips in a snack bag. Since I average 13 chips a minute, I'm here to tell you, I eat way too much salt and too much sugar.
Then Mrs. Destafano and I sat down for a little chat, planning how we can promote the HAWC programs and facilities in the paper and on our base website. That's when Mrs. Destafano told me that since the new Air Force Physical Fitness standards have come into effect, more Airmen were having trouble passing their physical fitness test.
Mrs. Destafano explained the new standards had just come into effect in July, 2010 and that many people were caught by surprise at the increased difficulty of the standards. She told me that many people missed the mark by one push-up or one sit-up or failed the run by a few seconds.
Having completed more than 40 physical fitness tests during my time in the Navy, I can understand how easy it is to have a bad day and do poorly on the test. I also know from firsthand experience how easy it is not to work out on a regular basis. In the Navy, we called people like me members of the three mile a year club. We would suck it up and run a mile and a half twice a year, pass our test and move on.
During my first few years in the Navy, in the late 80s and early 90s, commands would conduct their unit-wide physical fitness test on a Friday morning. It was a joke. I even remember people running the test with cigarettes in their mouth as if it was a sign of machismo. We would complete our test, cough up a lung or two, and then the command would have a party complete with beer and grilled sliders. A healthy lifestyle was not front and center.
My, my how those times have changed.
If you had told me ten years ago, that by 2011, almost 40,000 of my fellow Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen would be killed or wounded in combat, I never would have believed it. But the very conflicts that our Armed Forces have engaged in during the past decade are the primary reasons for the increased standards in physical fitness across the military services.
It all comes down to a basic fact of serving in the Armed Forces. You have a very dangerous job. You can be sitting at a desk all warm and comfortable here on Joint Base Charleston one day, and the next you're outside the wire in Afghanistan. If you're not in shape, you're less likely to cope with the rigors of combat. More importantly, you might not be able to help your wingman or shipmate when they get in a tough situation.
The Airmen's Creed states: "I am an American Airman. I am a warrior." As a warrior, maintaining a high level of physical fitness should be paramount. You owe it to yourself and your fellow servicemembers to maintain an outstanding level of physical fitness.
If you're having difficulty meeting the new standards, stop by the HAWC and speak with Mrs. Destafano and Mrs. Greer. If you can't make it to the HAWC, check out the programs and facilities at the Naval Health Clinic Charleston and Sam's Gym on Joint Base Charleston-Weapons Station. They have the programs and tools to get you into shape.