Page 17 - Mind, Body and Spirit 2016/17

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Now twelve months into the SMI Health role, I can report that I am thoroughly embedded into the Regional Command way of life and still enjoying the varied, sometimes complex
work strands.
There are a number of key initiatives which I have been heavily involved with, which I hope all RAPTCIs are now conversant with.
Firstly and predominantly the Defence Occupational Fitness Program (DOFP); which is split into two areas; the Defence Health & Wellbeing Advisor (DHWA) course and the Defence Occupational Fitness Program (DO t). These take a large part of my workload and from the outset, I have been very excited to be involved with the initiative as I rmly believe this type of training adds huge value in terms of enabling soldiers to be deployable and further increases the view that the RAPTC is a force multiplier.
It has been ful lling to hear the extremely positive feedback from RAPTCIs who have attended the DHWA, as one very experienced RAPTCI said, ‘this course is the missing piece of the puzzle’. Therefore I urge you all to take the opportunity to expand on your current knowledge which can only make you a more rounded PTI.
Secondly, the Alternative Aerobic Assessment (A3). Using the Wattbike is now rmly embedded into MATT2, I have handed the training responsibility over to the ASPT and now all our Regular AAPTIs are quali ed as A3 Practitioners, ready to deliver this training at unit. There is still work to do, mainly ensuring the Reserves are also able to deliver the A3, therefore concentration has been to ensure ATU QMSIs hold the Master Trainer quali cation to deliver to Reserve AAPTIs in their Regions.
The fallout from ‘delving’ into the Army Reserve was the realization of the shortfall in provision of the Wattbike Trainer model. I was tasked to carry out staff work to determine A2020 Army Reserve locations, manning liabilities, Wattbike holdings and provide recommendations based on current PTE scaling. I am very pleased to say that Trainer models are now being delivered to Army
SMI O’Donnell-warming up RC for sports day
Reserve establishments and, from a health perspective, is very rewarding knowing that we are helping to enable physical training to the Reserve MLD/MND population (no more A3 excuses from the Reserves!).
Trying to ensure a work/life balance, I completed my rst season attending Army Road Cycling events and tagged on the RAPTC training camp to Cyprus, spending pretty much the week as tail end Charlie. Purely due to ability (or lack of) rather than choice! (Note to self – more miles required).
The annual RC Exercise Ski TEC 17 took place in Banff, Canada in January where I taught members of the HQ on Ski Foundation 1. A great week was had by all even at -30o!
In closing, an enjoyable year, working with great operators. What the future holds, nobody is certain, so making the most of the here and now!
SMI HEALTH
WO1 (SMI) D O’Donnell RAPTC
Sport across all 3 regions (North, Midlands and South) has continued to grow throughout 2015/16. This is due to the considerable efforts made by RPOC PD Branches,
associated sports chairmen and sports secretaries who have continued to encourage and support sport at all levels.
Army Sports Trophy Competition
The Army Sports Trophy Competition (ASTC) 2015/16 ran from 21 Oct 15 to 21 Oct 16 and had 51 Units enter (Maj and Min). The ASTC recognises Team and Individual successes, qualifying of coaches and of cials, hosting sporting events, sports tours, and falls in line with the Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) Directive of promoting sport from grass roots level all the way up to Army, UK Armed Forces and National level competition. The Trophy was tightly contested across all UK Regions with 2014/15 winners 14 Regt RA and AFC (H) coming out as eventual Major and Minor winners respectively.
14 Regt RA excelled especially in hosting area with over 80 events hosted at their location from Unit level through to UK Armed Forces competitions. They also entered 19 Army level competitions across all sports including Orienteering, Biathlon, Tug of War, Marathon/ Road Running and Angling which is an outstanding achievement.
Army Sports Trophies Competition Poster 2015–16
SMI SPORT
WO1 (SMI) C Bennett RAPTC
AFC (H) earned good points for qualifying coaches and of cials in Football, Boxing, Triathlon and Rugby. They also proved successful in hosting many North Regional competitions including Basketball, Badminton, Squash, Golf, Tennis to name but a few.