Physical Training - FM 21-20 War Department Field Manual

■ 1. Necessity fob Physical Training. — To perform his duties satisfactorily, the soldier must possess great organic vigor, muscular and nervous strength, endurance, and agility. The average recruit does not possess the degree of physical fitness required of a trained soldier. The required degree of physical fitness can be acquired only through physical training. The performance! of purely military exercises, that is, drill, marching, etc., is not alone sufficient to correct the deficiencies and incorrect postures too often acquired before becoming a soldier. Further, the complexities of modern warfare require so much technical training for the soldier that all too frequently no time is allotted for physical training; yet the soldier who possesses great technical skill but is unable to withstand the rigorous life demanded is of questionable value. Hence, physical training must be an integral part of every training program. There is no more justification for failure to allow time in the training program for physical training on the grounds that the soldier will attain satisfactory physical development through performing his daily duties, than there is for failure to allow time for training in marksmanship on the grounds that the soldier will learn to shoot by being taken to the range, issued a weapon and ammunition, and left to his own devices. ■ 2. Purpose. — a. The primary purpose of military physical training is the production of a state of health and general physical fitness which will permit the soldier to perform the arduous duties required of him. The ultimate goal of this training, then, is physical efficiency which is essential to military effectiveness. The attainment of physical efficiency through physical training is shown graphically below. &. The disciplinary and setting-up exercises prepare, the soldier mentally and physically for training in such basic skills as marching and running, jumping and vaulting, climbing, crawling, lifting and carrying, and throwing and kicking. Superiority in these basic skills becomes the soldier's immediate objective and gives him a definite goal for which to strive. From the effort the soldier puts forward to become proficient in these simple skills, he develops endurance and agility. The development of endurance results in health and physical fitness. The development of agility results in body control and physical alertness: The soldier is among the first to become aware of his own physical development. This knowledge of improvement results in confidence, courage, alertness, initiative, pride, discipline, and posture. The development of these many desirable qualities during the conduct of the physical training program is a certainty and may equal, if not surpass, the purely physiological value of the training. The final result of all of this training is physical efficiency, which, as stated before, is an essential to military effectiveness. (See fig. 1.) ■ 3. Relationship Between Physical Training and Military Training. — A man does not become an effective soldier simply by taking an oath and donning a uniform. The transformation from civilian to soldier is accomplished by training, and it is not complete until the man develops those qualities which characterize the trained soldier. The chart (fig. 1) shows at a glance that physical training develops many of these desired qualities while making the man physically efficient. ■ 4. Physical Training Program. — a. Scope. — The physical training program described in this manual is composed of several different activities, each having a special purpose.

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