Over two years ago at this point, I made a forum post regarding physical training (or ‘PT’) and my stance on it. Here’s the link: [Physical Training - Previously Banned, Now Back Again]
With the comments being up for discussion, an overwhelming majority of respondents disagreed with the idea of physical training being used in government institutions. The public view seems to be (or had been) firmly embedded against the idea of physical training in Firestone.
So, having said that, here’s the issue:
I was spectating a POST Tier 1 today, and you’ll never guess what happened; the cadets were assigned PT. Jumping jacks, cheer jacks, hell jacks, all different types being given. Bare in mind, this isn’t even a punitive measure; it’s just built into the base curriculum. I understand it wasn’t the instructor’s fault and I place zero blame on them. It’s the responsibility of the POST command in order to ensure their curriculum doesn’t include things such as physical training; yet it does.
I’m going to get into my personal opinion regarding why PT shouldn’t be used in Firestone, so from here on out there will be immense bias in my messaging. If you disagree, feel free to comment.
Anyways, all of this begs the question: Why is physical training bad in the first place?
Advocates for PT will propose the idea that physical training, such as jumping jacks, instills a sort of discipline in someone. The problem with this proposal is that there really is no correlation between PT and the improvement of discipline among cadets. I myself have not benefitted from physical training, and I highly doubt it will work for others either.
Another use of PT is for punitive action; if you mess up or act out of order, you’re forced to undergo some sort of physical training. Having performed much physical training over the past few years, I’ve never felt a feeling or remorse for acting out of order/doing something wrong nor have I ever felt threatened into acting in line from the proposition of PT. Being forced to go through PT instead fills me with spite and impatience; it’s wasting my time, other’s time, and makes me linger over the idea of hating PT instead of thinking about what I did to deserve it.
Regardless of my personal experience, it really disappoints me to see Firestone returning to the use of physical training. I believe it is an ineffective process, and if the consensus is the same as it was 2 years ago, most others do too.