Meet the man whose job it is to make sure Yorkshire’s Reserve infantry soldiers are fighting fit.
Glenn Bloomer is a warrant officer with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps and he and his team of physical training instructors are responsible for helping troops from 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment keep in shape.
Physical fitness
“Infantry soldiers have to reach the highest physical fitness standards in the British Army,” said Glenn, an ex regular who now combines serving as a reserve with a civilian career as a mountaineering instructor and guide.
“Our reserves don’t have to be super fit when they join up but they have to show they have a positive attitude and commitment towards improving their fitness in order for them to pass the new role-specific Physical Employment Standards that have been introduced.
“These new standards are exactly the same for regular and reserve infantry soldiers. For reserves, that means a lot of independent training as well as regular training with their units, with individual input from myself or one of my team.”
Some 60 soldiers from 4YORKS will be heading to Catterick later this month (17th July) to take the new fitness test.
Significant challenge
“As well as the weight-carrying tasks which see soldiers carrying 40kg for four kilometres, there are also six tasks which are designed to represent the sort of demands that an infanteer would face in the field,” said Glenn.
“None of the tasks taken in isolation are particularly easy but taken in sequence they present a significant challenge especially for soldiers who have to fit training in around their civilian roles. But it’s one that is fully achievable with the appropriate physical training preparation.”