Page 136 - RAPTC Year of 2019

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HQ ARMY SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL TRAINING
THE GREATEST HONOUR
Lt Col (MAA) G C Hendrickson MBE RAPTC Commanding Officer
As I reflect on almost 12 months into my appointment as Commanding Officer ASPT, my
initial thoughts are...’where’s the time gone’. My
feet are now firmly under my desk and I am enjoying commanding the ASPT, in what I believe is the greatest
honour of my career. An extremely busy unit, the ASPT
has a training programme stretching across 50 weeks
of the calendar year, with the only rest-bite being a two
week break over the Christmas period. We are only
able to achieve our mission and 50 weeks of back to
back courses with a dedicated, committed, extremely
forward thinking and proactive staff. In short, they are exceptional and achieve the very highest of standards
in all that they do, I could not ask for more. I am
constantly inundated with complements from unit CO’s and their respective CoC for the first-class RAPTCIs, AAPTIs and Reserve PTIs moving back into the Fd Army. Those that attend our Pass Off Parades are in awe at the professionalism of displays. All students that attend the ASPT flourish under the tutorship of this very strong and very outstanding team.
However, it is not all work and no play at the ASPT. With some careful programming, over the last 12 months all staff have been able to get away to play their respective sports, including attendance on a number of Overseas Sports Visits. I have even managed to refresh my Boxing Coaching qualifications, something I look to volunteer in during retirement. I thank the legend that is ‘Micky Gannon’, for his patience and high level of technical
will be one
coaching. Additionally, the majority of the school staff attended an Adventurous Training Skiing Exped in Les Deux Alps, where SF 1-3 courses were successfully conducted, qualifying 21 unit personnel.
To maintain the ASPT’s standing as the Centre of Excellence for Physical Training across the Army and I would declare across the world, we must continue to recruit the very best from across the Corps. I would encourage RAPTCIs that strive to be their very best and wish to be the role models in health and fitness for the future Army PTIs, to stick their heads above the parapet and come and join the team at the ASPT. You will not regret the decision and I promise you, your tour of the most rewarding of your career.
In closing, I find myself accelerating rapidly towards retirement and the completion of almost 39 years of service. From boy to man, to middle aged man and now beyond. I do not have any regrets, if I were to go back, I would do it all again and wouldn’t change a thing. I feel extremely proud of my achievements throughout my time as a soldier and specifically that within the Corps, meeting and working with life-long friends. Commanding the ASPT is my final tour of duty and is the pinnacle of my career. My life has been blessed thus far, both professionally and with my wonderful family and I hope it continues a little longer . May God bless you all with Health, Fitness and Long Life...’Train Hard – Fight Easy’.
ARMY SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL TRAINING – ALDERSHOT
Sgt (SI) L HILSON RAPTC
Iam currently six months into my three-year tenure at the Army School of Physical Training (ASPT) and it is safe to say that my feet haven’t touched the ground due to being extremely
busy, with continued engagement and commitment to Physical Development. Being a part of the ASPT Delivery Team (DT), the pace of life could never be described as slow. Currently within the ASPT calendar year the DT’s business is to deliver four RAPTCI (9 months) and AAPTI Courses (9 weeks), three RAPTC Selections (1 week), four Army Reserve PTI Basic (2 weeks) and two Army Reserve PTI Advanced (2 weeks) Courses not to mention other commitments such as Obstacle Course Supervisor and Endurance Training Leader Couse conducted in London at weekends which all goes to show how it is an extremely busy and high tempo role. Nevertheless, the team’s positive attitude towards teaching, coaching and mentoring day to day is beyond reproach. This is evident from the growing numbers of students passing out (126 in total on the last AAPTI Course) due to RAPTC Instructors whose aim is to deliver the best physical training courses within the Army to date.
During the limited “down” time when delivering courses, the ASPT Staff take pride and pleasure in representing varying levels of sport that have seen extraordinary amounts of sporting achievements throughout the year. One being the DT’s very own Sgt (SI) Lockey who competed for the Army at the United Kingdom Armed Forces (UKAF) and after winning all his three fights helped the Army judo team to secure the win over the RAF and Royal Navy to become UKAF Champions.
Further afield Sgt (SI) Evans has also represented the Army football team against the German Bundeswehr in “The Game of Remembrance” a game played at ‘The City Ground’ home of Nottingham Forest where he even managed to have a picture taken for The Soldiers Game Publication and annual review which now holds pride and place in the ASPT museum. Moving on to the dirtier part of the field to what some would call “The real man’s game” Sgt (SI) Chennell has represented the Army Rugby Union team throughout the season culminating with the Interservice Championship against the Royal Navy in front of a sell-out crowd of 82,000 at Twickenham Stadium. He even earned his 22nd Cap for the British Army and is more than looking forward to hopefully earning further caps as he continues to represent this season. Along with such great success Sgt (SI) Chennell has been fortunate to have his two sons as mascots during the Royal Navy fixture making the occasion even more special and as he quoted “The best and most memorable experience out of all the matches I’ve played.” Finally, a more recent representation for the ASPT was the first British Army Warrior Fitness (BAWF) South event where the female team placed 1st and the male team placing 2nd from a large turnout of 35 teams. The BAWF competition is aimed at increasing Unit and Inter-Unit competitiveness as well as challenging participants during a controlled and exciting event. The varying arduous workouts during this competition, incorporated various components of military fitness and complemented the Army Physical Training System framework.