Master Fitness Trainer History

This paper will focus on the history of the Master Fitness Trainer (MFT), how the role was created, then terminated, brought back and their role at the unit level. In the early 1980s, the U.S. Army started to make many changes to many aspects of physical fitness. The Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) changed from a five-event combat test to a three-event physical endurance test. In 1981The Department of Defense (DoD) Study of The Military Services Physical Fitness DOD Directive 1308.1, found all services needed to implement a planned physical fitness program. DOD Directive 1308.1 also outlined five primary objectives; physical fitness training should develop combat skills and a positive outlook towards exercise, physical fitness should …show more content…
An MFT’s primary responsibilities are advising company leadership on proper implementation of physical readiness training, serves as the primary planner of Physical Readiness Training (PRT) activities, can assist all leadership down to platoon level to tailor the PRT program to compliment specific mission requirements, advises individual Soldiers on fitness and nutrition techniques, to reduce injuries through supervision and help injured Soldiers to return from limited duty. This additional duty helped change the way physical fitness was looked at by most Army leaders, to better prepare units for the physical requirements of battle and to reduce injuries in all aspects of the Soldiers daily …show more content…
The MFT course consisted of 80 hours of classroom instruction and 80 hours of practical instruction. Program material covered during the course was the skeletal system, the cardiovascular/respiratory systems, muscle physiology, exercise in extreme environments, sports medicine/injury prevention, strength and cardio-respiratory training, flexibility, and nutrition/body composition (East, 2013). Those who completed the course earned the Army Skill Identifier(ASI) 6P for officers and 5P for NCOs. Master Fitness Trainer course offered Mobile Training Teams(MTT) that would travel to Army installations both in the continental United States and overseas. The United States Military Academy (USMA) taught the course in the Department of Physical Education. USMA taught the course in a three course 60 lesson format instead of the four-week course. West Point produced an estimated 10,000 officers with the MFT certification between 1985-2002. In June of 1987, a major revision of AR 600-9 incorporated duties of the Master Fitness Trainer with Army Weight Control Program (AWCP). These responsibilities were prescribing Soldiers placed on the AWCP proper exercises that maintained and achieved personal weight and to assist commanders in developing a practical physical fitness program. 1985-1990, is considered when the Master Fitness Trainer