the only way to get good at doing a 15km speed march in full kit, doing a house attack, a 5 min re-org, a 5km speed march to the range and then doing a shoot, is to practice doing a 15km speed march in full kit, a house attack, a 5 min re-org, a 5km speed march to the range, and doing a shoot. again, and again, and again...
yes, fitness is something the reservist needs to crowbar into the already busy mix of work, training, and family and social life, but like everything about reserve service, if the Army wants someone to do it, they have to make it as easy as possible - that means being able to have the kit at home so that if the wife takes the kids out to her mothers on a saturday morning, the reservist can hit the hills in his boots, belt kit and bergan, it means reservists being able to use regular army sports facilities on the way home from work, and it means shoe-horning fitness into as much of the programme as possible.
a regular army that thinks it can relegate the reservists' fitness state to 'thats your problem..', is going find itself with a very severe problem when it wants to mobilise the reserve to take the Army to its war strength, and finds that only 20% of the reserve is capable of undertaking the pre-deployment training neccesary to enable them to be used.
yes, fitness is something the reservist needs to crowbar into the already busy mix of work, training, and family and social life, but like everything about reserve service, if the Army wants someone to do it, they have to make it as easy as possible - that means being able to have the kit at home so that if the wife takes the kids out to her mothers on a saturday morning, the reservist can hit the hills in his boots, belt kit and bergan, it means reservists being able to use regular army sports facilities on the way home from work, and it means shoe-horning fitness into as much of the programme as possible.
a regular army that thinks it can relegate the reservists' fitness state to 'thats your problem..', is going find itself with a very severe problem when it wants to mobilise the reserve to take the Army to its war strength, and finds that only 20% of the reserve is capable of undertaking the pre-deployment training neccesary to enable them to be used.
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