Report: Richard Long

WITH operations in Afghanistan placing ever-increasing demands on soldiers, the need to produce and maintain a fully-fit fighting force has never been more important.

Such crucial work falls within the remit of the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC), whose skilled instructors ensure the highest standards are achieved prior to deployment.

This year the APTC celebrates its 150th anniversary and Soldier visited the corps’ home in Aldershot to learn more about its development over the decades and the scientific training methods being used to prepare troops for the tough challenges of the
21st century.

Its birth can be traced to the Crimean War, when poor levels of physical fitness were a common feature among serving personnel.

This prompted the War Office into action and in 1860 Maj Frederick Hammersley and 12 NCOs – who are now affectionately known as the 12 Apostles – were sent to Oxford University for a vigorous training programme before being posted to garrisons across the country, forming the Army Gymnastic Staff.

“There were bad levels of nutrition and fitness and a lot of soldiers were getting injured,” explained APTC spokesman Capt Paul Sanderson.

“We needed to sort this out. These guys got together and went to Oxford University where they went through an intensive six-month programme of anatomy and physical training.

“The people who were joining the Army then had poor nutritional and health histories. While they had a hard working life they were not physically robust, a lot of that was down to bad nutrition.”

Orders soon followed for gymnasiums to be built at each garrison, which housed its own officer and instructional staff, and by the end of the century the Army Gymnastic Staff were responsible for bayonet fighting skills in addition to physical training, boxing, fencing and gymnastics.

But it was not until 1940 that the APTC adopted its current name.

The outbreak of the Second World War saw a vast expansion of staff to provide purposeful training and to harden troops for the battlefield.

Peacetime saw a gradual reduction in numbers from 3,000 down to 700 and by the 1960s the corps contracted to around 450 officers and senior NCOs, which is its approximate strength today.

While instructors have traditionally ensured soldiers meet exacting fitness standards, their attention is now directed at providing training that specifically meets the challenges of southern Afghanistan.

“We know there has to be aerobic content, they have to be fit to run or walk with heavy weights,” Capt Sanderson told Soldier.

“But we were getting a lot of injuries to the lower limbs and lower back. A soldier may
have the capacity to run for more than eight miles but he may not have the strength to
carry the weight.

“They have to jump over ditches and jump from helicopters so we are looking more at functional strength.

“The work we do now has its base in Olympic powerlifting and we have to get the body moving in the most effective manner.

“We try to encourage perfect form so muscle is strengthened throughout the movement.

“If a soldier is squatting to fire a weapon or jumping across a ditch it impacts on the joints. If they do not have the muscle that is when problems arise.”

Science also plays a crucial role in today’s training with the APTC keen to gain every possible advantage.

“We are there (southern Afghanistan) for the long term,” said Capt Sanderson. “Our most valuable resource is our manpower, if we can make a soldier physically ready he has more chance of
coming back alive.
“We look at what civilians are doing and we look at the Americans and Scandinavians, they both have a great history of research and development.

“We are trying to be science-savvy and we are trying to be more long term in our approach, rather than reactionary.”

While future attention will marry with the MoD’s drive to support operations in Afghanistan, the corps has a clear focus on this year and is planning a number of events to celebrate its landmark anniversary.

Members will take part in a relay race from Oxford to Aldershot in March to
commemorate the effort made by the 12 Apostles and it is hoped members of the public will be able to join runners on the final leg.

In April the APTC will travel to South Africa to offer a series of football coaching sessions to youngsters in the impoverished townships of Durban.

And in May corps members will help form the crew for the eleventh leg of Exercise Transglobe. They will be sailing from Antigua to Charleston, USA, alongside personnel involved in the Battle Back scheme.

For more information on the APTC and its 150th anniversary, visit www.army.mod.uk/aptc