Mission Ready

It is imperative that the active duty Soldier, Marine, Airman, or Sailor maintain mission readiness at all times. This means continuing to maintain or improve physical fitness leading up to, and during, a deployment. Whereas most military installations have a gym on premises, it is always nice to have some at-home fitness equipment you can use while enjoying the company of your loved ones and/or the comfort of your own home. Bodyweight-only exercises can be effective, but there are only a certain amount of movements you can perform without any equipment. Large fitness equipment is often impractical to have at the home of an active duty military member due to the frequency of deployments and relocations. Here are some of our favorite recommendations for effective, easy-to-use, travel-friendly workout equipment to keep you physically fit at all times. If you need more information on which fitness qualities are important for becoming the ultimate warfighter, be sure to check out our artic...

90 second video preview:  When you hear the word athlete , you most likely picture a high-performing, sport-playing individual: soccer players, basketball players, football players, etc. However, the word athlete  finds its roots in the Latin word athleta , which means combatant in public games . The root word of combatant is combat  - fighting between armed forces (hence, the "Armed Forces"). The word athleticism  refers to someone who possesses characteristics of physical strength and capability of robust activity . In this light, military personnel would be classified as athletes - but instead of competing in games and sports, we are competing in combat and war. The Tactical Athlete is anybody who contributes to carrying out tactical operations. In other words, if you are in the military, you are considered a tactical athlete. Several, if not all MOS's ( military occupational specialty) require some form of physical strength and capability. Failure to perform cer...