Physical challenge

PTI Sergeant Jason Van Rysbergen meets CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston during his time in the MEAO. Photo by SGT W. Guthrie

By CPL Sean Burton

IN the war against fatty food, saggy mattresses and lack of physical motivation in the MEAO, Sergeant Jason Van Rysbergen, of 382ECSS, was the sole PTI for 8000 Coalition members at one air base.

Americans and British forces did not have an equivalent PTI on the Coalition air base, so SGT Van Rysbergen – who has returned to Australia – was kept active writing and conducting physical training programs.

He said he enjoyed the experience, which included running aerobics classes, pilates classes and circuit training for all three services across the Coalition.

The Amberley-based PTI said he was not biased, but he believed the Australians were the fittest of the Coalition partners.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re hardcore with the physical training, but our guys will generally do something every day to keep themselves on the ball,” he said.

“Our fitness testing is certainly a lot harder than both the other countries and we’re more stringent on it. We’re by the book but fair with our fitness testing where they’re both a bit haphazard.”

He said the American-based “chow hall” diet had a lot to do with people’s fitness.

“The American diet is unusual; it’s very sweet and it’s very high in fat as everything’s got to be deep fried, but there’s lots of salads, lots of water so it’s just about making the right choice,” he said.

He said the fitness facilities were “awesome”. They included a large cardio room which had 16 cross trainers, 10 treadmills, numerous bikes and stair steppers and a pin-loaded and free-weight training area.

“Outside they had what they call muscle beach and inside muscle beach there’s two above ground pools and a tanning deck as well as free weights and, of course, there’s a basket ball court and beach volley ball court,” he said.

SGT Van Rysbergen said his pilates classes were always full. Part of the attraction for the Americans was the Australian accent, he said.

When not running classes for the Coalition, he helped with rehabilitation work. Some of this stemmed from the bedding, which produced back and neck problems. “I spent a lot of time doing massage plus rehabilitation stretching and offering advice on how to solve that problem,” he said.

On his return to Australia, he was looking forward to getting back to having an Australian beer and walking on grass.

“I want to go somewhere where there’s lots of grass and lots of trees so I’m going to spend a lot of time on the golfcourse,” he said.

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