FORT HOOD — Kicking off commemorating “50 Years of Operational Testing,” 43 soldiers and Army civilian workers here are participating in an eight-week “Shredder” Weight Loss Challenge.
The U.S. Army Operational Test Command is dealing with Fort Hood’s Army Wellness Center for an additional physical fitness education increase in the program that started Jan. 31.
“Some of you might say you have a goal to lose 10 pounds,” Noelle Austin Jones, a licensed individual fitness instructor with the Wellness Center, stated. “That’s a great idea, but that’s not really a goal.”
“A goal requires steps and action and an end goal, so we can help with that meaty part in the middle,” she stated.
“The 10 pounds is the end goal, but how are you going to get there?”
The “Shredder” obstacle started with a preliminary weigh-in with bi-weekly scale sees up until March 28.
With people and groups of 3, winner rewards consist of time off when objective enables the civilian workers and soldiers.
Fun group names consist of, “Duds to Studs,” “Shredz-A-Lot,” “Winning Losers,” and “Butt weight! There’s more!”
The very first thing “Lego Techs” staff member Argelia Alvarez did after registering for the obstacle was move her sweet meal from her desk to another table in her workplace.
“Even though I had started aligning my nutritional goals with consistent workouts, I was missing the accountability piece of being a team member,” stated the administrative officer in the Test Technology Directorate.
“I was surprised we tied it into the 50th anniversary,” Alvarez stated. “I like the fact the command tied in the civilians, because (physical training) or weight loss efforts are typically tailored to the military, and so to see it come to the civilians is nice. It feels we are a part of the team and not an afterthought. We are all in this together.”
Operations Staff Sgt. Scott Pangelinan’s just objective worried his closet.
“I have a 36-inch waste right now, but I have a lot of 34-inch pants,” he stated.
“I don’t want to have to get rid of those pants, and my goal is to fit back into those pants.”
Col. Christopher Albus, deputy leader and chief of personnel of USAOTC, advised everybody to utilize the Wellness Center for guidance and support on diet plan, nutrition and workout.
“It’s a friendly competition where 43 of us can lose 550 pounds,” he stated. “That would be impressive.”
He thanked everybody for getting included.
“I’m glad to be part of the team, and I’m glad that you are a part of my team as well, as we kick off this 50th anniversary of the Operational Test Command,” Albus stated.
On Oct. 1, 1969, the origins of USAOTC were modest, and there were no events, or system colors when it started.
A little group of military and civilian workers united to release the special test company – U.S. Army Project Mobile Army Sensor Systems Test, Evaluation and Review, or MASSTER – in a storage room of the III Corps and Fort Hood head office, when it stood as a World War II-style structure.
MASSTER was just expected to last as long as the dispute in Vietnam, however the test system continued to 1976 when its name was altered to Training and Doctrine Command Combined Arms Test Activity.
USAOCT’s name altered once again Oct. 1, 1988, to TRADOC Test and Experimentation Command, or TEXCOM, and in 1999 it was re-designated as USAOTC.
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