Page 23 - RAPTC Number 102 2018/19

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So, having been at 5 Rifles since Oct 2016 and moving towards the back end of my time with the Bn I can say it has certainly been an action packed 2 years but also
memorable. After OP CABRIT and recovering back into camp life the CO had 3 clear areas that he wanted to work on, reducing the number of soldiers under rehab, improving deployability and re-invigorating sport and AT. After a period of working out how we were going to achieve this I set about getting the ball rolling.
First up was the creation of the Rifles “Fit to Fight” course, a reconditioning course focused around a 6-week programme that not only focused on the physical wellbeing of the soldiers but also other areas such as general soldiering and personal development. It was appreciated that some of these guys could have been in the rehab chain for some time and that a course which worked on the soldier holistically to re-energise them would be a better package rather than 6 weeks of progressive PT. We have now run 4 courses and I can say that we have achieved exactly what we set out to do; returning a significant number of soldiers back to full coy duties and PT. We have now a rhythm and run four of these courses over a calendar year.
After this good start to 2018 it was now a slight switch of focus towards the wider Bn and making sure that the sportsmen and women were being pushed in the right direction and fulfilling their talent. Subsequently we have started to have a growing number of individuals representing not just the Infantry and REME etc but also a number of soldiers have moved forward to represent at Army level.
2018 was a significant year for PT in 5 Rifles as we moved towards the implementation of the Army Physical Training System (APTS) and the new fitness testing. 5 Rifles were luckily enough to be selected to complete some early trials of the new Physical Employment Standards (PES) which gave me and my team a perfect opportunity to gain an early insight into what lay ahead when the testing was formally released. This was a great opportunity for me as I could work on changing the PT culture to focus more on Strength and Conditioning. I am very fortunate in that, this was not the challenge I thought it may be and we have transitioned well into this more modern approach to physical training.
Sea Kayaking Inverness
5TH BATTALION THE RIFLES
SSgt (SSI) S Hawkins RAPTC
As well as these early PES trials my unit were lucky enough to be chosen to take the TV presenter Ben Fogle through the new Role Fitness Test (RFT) after discussing it during an interview.
Overall 2018 has been another action-packed year which has again, given me some great opportunities to work on my own development and my PTI’s where I have seen a significant number of them gain AT qualifications demonstrating that we all can be more self-sufficient.