JCSE Log PT routine sets good example about teamwork

  • Published
  • By Nick Stubbs
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  A 3.4-mile run in the August Florida heat is bad enough, but breaking that run into two legs and spending the time between them hoisting a 300-pound log around while bending, jumping and doing sit ups is not a recipe for fun.

It is, however, the ingredients of a physical fitness routine designed not only to harden the body, but build teamwork within the Joint Communications Services Element.

Log PT, as it has been dubbed, is a new program implemented into JCSE, which is a unit comprised of U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, specializing in setting up and maintaining communications as part of an emergency response or to support combat operations.

Last week, several JCSE members participated in the second official Log PT at the MacDill beach, where teams were in full uniform trudging through the thick sand with the heavy log atop their shoulders. To be certain, being under a 12-foot, 300-pound log makes any activity more difficult.

"That's the idea," said Chief Master Sgt. Eric Milton, the senior enlisted leader at JCSE. "It's also a great way to build teamwork."

The "log" is actually a piece of large diameter pipe filled with sand rather than the traditional log used in Army physical training programs for years, said Chief Milton. The pipe not only allows the weight of the log to be better controlled by adding or removing sand, it is easier to store and care for, he said.

The Log PT, and other training the unit does, is devised and managed by Sgt. First Class Christopher Gonzalez, NCOIC of the training detachment, who was on leave this week an unavailable for comment.

The routines JCSE is using are right out of Army Training Manual 2120, the chief noted. Among the exercises are four- or five-man teams doing jumping jacks (just the leg motions) while hoisting the log, holding the log to their chests and curling it, doing sit ups with the lot resting on their chests and a couple of other routines. There is one exercise in the manual not done, which involves tossing the log into the air and catching it.

"We're working our way up to that one," Chief Milton said. "It can be dangerous if everyone isn't working together."

Working together is what it's all about. The log is the bond and burden that the members of the team share, and to succeed, they have to pull together as a team.

"It keeps everyone thinking in terms of doing things as a team rather than as just an individual," said Chief Milton. "It's good physical training, but it's a lot more."

JCSE members are able to endure well, though, as there has always been an emphasis on physical training in the unit. All members of the unit run 4.2 to 5 miles a day, he said, and all physical training is taken seriously to prepare the JCSE team for the frequent deployments they experience, which involve 6-month stints in the AOR, followed by 12 months back at MacDill before starting the cycle over.

"We always have to be ready," said Chief Milton, who said JCSE uses a three level readiness system - red, amber and green. Physical training, like the Log PT, fall into red, while amber reflects mission specific training, followed by green, which is deployment. A team member who isn't physically fit is not prepared for amber or green, said Chief Milton. To ensure fitness, JCSE uses the standard U.S. Marine Physical Fitness Test, which members are preparing for now.

The log training regimen is preceded and punctuated by a 1.7-mile run to the beach, and a 1.7 mile run back to the JCSE headquarters when done. In full uniform in the summer heat, it's a serious workout, said Chief Milton.

"There isn't anyone who isn't soaking wet when it's over," he said

Chief Milton added that everyone "gets a good night's sleep after the training," but that may be an understatement.

One can imagine they might sleep like logs.