Physical Fitness
40" x 30"
Oil on Canvas
Fort Ord, California – August, 1966
"A" Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade
Platoon Sergeant Walter Franke, East Grand Forks, Minnesota
A soldier's
physical conditioning begins as soon as he enters the Army.
He walks and
runs where he used to drive.
Daily calisthenics,
workouts on the obstacle
course, crawling under barbed
wire,
throwing hand grenades, digging foxholes,
marching with field packs,
exercise in hand-to-hand combat and bayonet practice
develop hard muscles from
the civilian softness.
Formerly lean youths gain weight,
while flabby ones
become streamlined and muscular.
It is said that when young men finish Army training, they are in better physical
condition
than they have ever been,
or may ever be again.
The Run, Dodge and Jump Course is one of five events in the Combat Proficiency
Training Course.
It is a new exercise designed to test the agility
of
individuals. When a soldier in battle runs over
uneven terrain and dodges
ground bursts, he does not run in a straight line.
He must be practiced in
running, dodging,
and jumping as the situation requires.
In recognition of the
basic principle of training,
that men in combat do exactly what
they were in the
habit of doing in training,
this course was developed to strengthen
the
responses and coordination necessary for survival in combat.
The course consists of double rows of barriers separated by a ditch ringed with
sandbags.
Trainees are timed and rated on their performances.
The better
coordinated individuals,
of course, find it easier
to do well and in good time.
The men in the painting PHYSICAL FITNESS are running for record.
They are
being timed by Platoon Sergeant Walter Franke, a Senior Drill Instructor.
