Experts Earn Money, Champions Train, and Specialists Perfect

The author’s opinions are presented here and do not necessarily represent the stance or policy of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

Professionals in tactical roles are compensated for being physically fit to practice, train, or rehearse their critical job functions with intensity and regularity so that they can effectively execute those functions when required. Whether as a weapon carrier, a casualty treater, or an equipment mover, one must be capable of delivering their service effectively.

Being a professional holds little significance. Perfecting your work through deliberate practice is crucial.

Therefore, in my professional opinion (also, a strong personal one), strength and conditioning coaches integrated into “Tactical” units ought to be highly knowledgeable about the application of manpower and skill within that unit, and all other Human Performance personnel, to be frank. This does not necessitate the ability to clear a room, drive a tank, or conduct airlift operations, but it does require a deep understanding of those “end state” actions and the supplementary minor tasks when supporting individuals who are remunerated for performing those actions.

It’s essential to comprehend these operations in order to provide valuable and responsive service. Likewise, understanding the written instructions detailing those tasks and the training process is crucial.

This implies that you can (and should) establish principles in your program that back the development of those skills within the framework described by those guiding instructions. The exciting part of this challenge is that much of your development can come in the form of practice, rehearsal, and refinement of the complete tactical training process led by the trainees themselves. This is why I deeply appreciate the tactical field. We are engaged in the pursuit of education toward personal autonomy and self-efficacy.

Application Part I

There are countless (SO MANY LITERALLY) ways to apply this type of specificity, and I believe the most ignorant approach to achieve it is by donning “kit” (protective equipment, vest, helmet, etc) in the weight room. I will contradict myself shortly, but if you require your team members to wear their gear while conducting general strength training with traditional tools (especially barbells), you are sacrificing results for novelty. Let the equipment fulfill its intended purpose.

A far superior utilization of “specificity” in traditional strength and conditioning settings is to seek opportunities to improve general training. For me, and those I have supported, the starting point is to wear kit and helmet during the warmup. This is best implemented after the general movement patterns have been adequately executed without load and at the desired speed.

Upon adding external load, start gradually and escalate speed. Do not hesitate to incorporate activities such as crawls, rolls, and purposeful falls. This serves as an excellent opportunity to learn to fail in a low-risk setting. Then remove the kit and train. Once satisfactory group performance has been attained, you can begin incorporating kit and helmet during sprints, plyometrics, and other bodyweight power activities – after practicing them without load. This is also an excellent method to fortify bones and connective tissues to a greater extent than just strength training alone.

The final element of integrating this type of loading into “general” training would be to use low-risk implements like kettlebells, dumbbells, or even items such as ammo cans or other equipment used in their occupation to conduct circuits with controlled work/rest cycles that progressively build physiological load over time to around +10%, if feasible. Think 15-20 minutes at Zone 2/3 of the 5-Zone model.

What I commonly observe is an hour at Zone 5 because not only does more seem better, but often, dumber is perceived as better. In reality, it is not. Better is superior. My final note here would be to consider frequency and intensity as your allies and volume as your opponent. I believe that volume should be accumulated over a week rather than in a single day.

Application Part II 

Here is where the magic happens – a strategic and comprehensive approach to program development, educational modeling, and nurturing a strong culture. It’s the ultimate goal in the realm of physical development for tactical skills – when unit leaders are able to identify areas where their personnel may be lacking, acknowledge the need for physical training (aka practice), and actively seek out subject matter experts to elevate their existing training programs.

The next best scenario would be where you, the performance expert, can convince them that incorporating their natural training process to improve physical performance is a viable option.

Similar to most sports, practice is where exceptional amounts of valuable fitness can be cultivated. To excel at something, you simply engage in that activity! If you can layer in general training designed to complement practice, you possess a robust formula for developing technical expertise and the capacity to maintain that expertise despite exhaustion, pressure, and uncertainty. What’s even more impressive is that the training outlined in Part I of the application process can be used to bridge those who are underprepared to a level where they can better handle rehearsal without breaking.

Think of it as off-season and pre-season/in-season. If you have furnished your team members with useful and practical human performance education and training techniques, they will begin to grasp how to break down their tasks in the organizational language of performance and will eagerly seek to includethe trainers into the procedure. 

I’ve effectively facilitated this training model with active-duty units as we move towards a deployment or large training exercise. Yielding to traditional S&C training and backing their foundational and practical skill building has led to unit and individual accolades at all levels.  

An instance of a ‘foundational’ skill in a combat specialty could include individual moves such as sprinting (charging) in equipment, navigating straightforward obstacles, or getting down to the ground and/or into a firing position.  “Functional” abilities in this context would involve merging the foundational skills, either separately or in teams, to achieve a particular objective. That objective may be as simple as going from Point A to Point B, either as swiftly or covertly as possible, or more complex skills such as reacting to an ambush or seizing an objective point.  

I can attribute causation here only because I applied the same model when I was a non-commissioned officer responsible for training numerous junior members to execute rudimentary and intricate physical tasks focused on the ability to shoot, move, and communicate. This type of training can be done independently from general S&C or before/after a training session. I favor beginning with your tactical training and then moving on to a low-volume strength/power session with some ancillary work aimed at two things:  

1. Subjecting commonly overworked muscle groups to necessary workloads
2. Incorporating movement abilities that are frequently absent in these groups.

Some, although not all, involve the capability to pivot, support, elongate the thoracic spine, flex the ankles, and turn the neck.  Beyond these incorporations, the most crucial aspect of these sessions is fostering tactical ability commencing at the individual level and advancing towards extensive unit coordination across teams.  No amount of training in the gym will ever replicate training rigorously, under exhaustion, with movement abilities that have been intentionally rehearsed to the point of automaticity.  Enable the leaders to lead and aid their process. Recognize the tasks, but don’t declare expertise.

Experiential Learning Cycle

While developing these “foundational” and “functional” training sessions, it’s critical to comprehend what is described here as the “Experiential Learning Cycle”. By furnishing this framework to the procedure, the collaborative learning atmosphere can be organized in a manner that restricts extraneous information that may inhibit the learning of the skills being trained. 

Extraneous information could be the feelings of tiredness, under-nourishment, excessive noise inappropriate for the training context, or simply an overload of information. To effectively manage these sessions, it’s vital to tap into the existing knowledge and introduce no more than three new pieces of information per cycle. By integrating repetition that helps participants focus on and connect the new information with what they already know, you can optimize the learning experience. At this point, you must depend on the tactical leaders to be cognizant of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA’s) of their team.

Once informed by the existing KSA’s and structured following existing protocols such as United States Air Force Career Field Education and Training Plans (CFETP’s) or unit standard operating procedures (SOP’s), the Experiential Learning Cycle can unfold uninhibited by extraneous information.  The four constituent elements of the cycles are:

1. Act/Iterate
2. Reflect/After Action Report
3. Conceptualization/Schema Formation
4. Refined Application

The cycle itself is simple. 

Act – Take action towards rehearsal where it is essential at the intersection of pre-existing knowledge and a few pieces of new and essential information. 

Reflect – Offer ACTIONABLE feedback and highlight common misconceptions to those in attendance to shape future execution.  Document those aspects of feedback for more continuous improvement.

Conceptualize – Provide real-world examples where mastery can lead to success or non-mastery can lead to catastrophe and allow learners to usable bits. 

Refined Application – Re-attack to allow the learners to attend to the new information, act through the improved process, and possibly cement what was already successful. 

A last piece I would add to this is to allow a “secure” place to fail, when and where appropriate. It’s important to provide context to dire consequences, but it’s also crucial to provide those in attendance the liberty to fail – there will be failure. These steps are for the stakeholders to execute. But providing intelligent consultation is a must.

Once again, this process is informed and guided by the native leaders within the unit.  The role of the Human Performance practitioner here is to serve as a resource for consultation rather than the primary planning and development of these training iterations.  Where and how these concepts fit into the daily, weekly, quarterly, or annual calendar should be a collaboration of all stakeholders in all aspects of tactical and performance development. 

By utilizing this article and the components provided as a guide, the Human Performance professionals can hopefully accelerate this process by gaining the requisite familiarity and credibility within the operational capacities of a particular team or unit. By presenting three potential (and realistic) well-informed courses of action in planning meetings/discussions, remaining adaptable to the unit’s needs, and understanding the SUPPORT role Human Performance teams play in the development of warfighters, I believe you can elevate your standing within the unit, drive lasting buy-in, and become a transformational force within any organization you are privileged to support.