Page 130 - RAPTC Mind, Body & Spirit

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Sgt Powell receiving his Commandant RMAS Commendation for his excellent work running Academy Boxing
into action straight away. To that end Endurance Running and Loaded Marching has been removed from the first 7 weeks of the Commissioning Course PT programme and the focus is now on making Officer Cadets stronger whilst at the same time improving their aerobic conditioning by utilising rowing machines, ski ergometers and assault bikes. On the back of this, new terminology was developed with Vocational Functional Based Training encapsulating the movements previously coached in the gymnasium being taken outside and military equipment being used in a manner that replicates military tasks in the field, this has been a huge success and quoted by many Officer Cadets as the type of physical training they expected to be doing. This, alongside some other initiatives has continued to keep the injury rate low with only 3 reported injuries during the Winter and Spring Term Long Reach exercises which take place in week 8 and consist of 70 km over the Brecon Beacons. Overall the times are faster and injuries are minimal, largely due to Officer Cadets arriving at week 8 in much better physical condition and adequately rested...... in my 2017 notes I used the quote Train Smarter – Not Harder as being the key to maximising the impact of the new RMAS Strength and Conditioning facility, this quote has had a much broader meaning than anticipated over the last 12 months and the cultural change to training smarter can be seen across all elements of the Commissioning Course.
It would be remiss of me to not highlight the Outstanding Ofsted report that RMAS managed to achieve in Oct 2017. At very short notice the Ofsted team descended on RMAS with the intention of digging into the deepest darkest corners of the Academy to
SSgt McLellan receiving his LS&GC Medal from the Chief of the General Staff
Another fantastic Academy Boxing Night with the PT Wing hosting the Corps SM
highlight good and not so good practice. Suffice to say the PT Wing came in for particular scrutiny with various staff being interviewed and data being analysed, of note was the way I was grilled for 2 hours by one of the inspectors who seemed intent on disagreeing with all the good work I thought we had done over the previous 2 years. Thankfully this was simply a tactic he was applying to test the depth and thinking behind how we monitored and delivered Physical Development at RMAS. After 2 days, the Commandant was informed that RMAS has achieved an Outstanding Grade across all areas, with the PT Wing receiving specific praise for the developments since the last Ofsted inspection.
In Jan 2018, I was fortunate to visit the Afghan National Army Offr Academy (ANAOA) in Kabul with SSgt Jay McLellan. Our task was to review the current delivery of PT and provide advice to the UK and Afghan Chain of command, SSgt McLellan has written a separate article providing the detail of our visit, but suffice to say Afghanistan is still a very challenging and dangerous environment for those serving there and I am happy to report the excellent legacy of those members of the RAPTC that served at ANAOA in the early days still remains and I have utmost respect for the Afghan Staff and Officer Cadets serving there.
Finally, I would like to close by once again thanking all those RAPTCIs that have served at RMAS during my tenure and in addition congratulate those that have subsequently been promoted on leaving RMAS – it has been my Honour and Privilege to lead you!
WO1 SMI Newton – once a soldier, always a soldier