Fitness Center at McChord Field FAQ

Question: Why isn't there Active Duty only hours at the Fitness Center or Annex for unit PT?

Answer: The Fitness Center serves, on average, more than 1,000 Active Duty, Reserve, Guard, family and retired personnel daily. The facilities are 40 percent court undersized relative to supporting such a large and active patron base. Balancing the enormous volume of fitness-minded personnel necessitates affording unrestricted access during all operating hours. We periodically study patron use times and habits to determine when utilization rates are at their highest, and also the population mix during those times. Following such a review, we created a new programs to help meet our primary mission…keeping our Airmen “Fit to Fight”. The program allows military units first opportunity to reserve the Main Fitness Center gymnasium and Fitness Annex aerobic floor for unit PT.

This program affords , on a first come, first served bases, the ability to have dedicated time to participate in approved unit free weights PT exercises. Unit PT, by definition, are group exercises such as group runs, stretching, aerobic floor work, isometric strength training, calisthenics, pushups and sit-ups. Use of cardiovascular equipment and free weight or cabled strength training equipment have not been approved for unit PT because they do not afford an opportunity for unit members to exercise, as a group, in close proximity to one another; encouraging one another, and building espirit de corps. Unit PT’s primary focus is on blending team building with the healthful benefits of exercise. Our primary goal is to afford access to the broadest customer base, for the most hours possible each day.

Question: Why doesn't the base Fitness Center provide towels?

Answer: There are three reasons why the Fitness Center doesn't provide towel service:

1) Fiscal stewardship requires reviewing program necessities and those things that hockey enhance programs. While towel services would be a nice enhancement, the cost to provide the service would exceed $180K annually. Present budgetary constraints cannot support this type of program. Our scarce budgetary dollars are applied to programs directed at maintaining the overall health and fitness of Team McChord members. We target maintaining and re capitalizing state-of-the-art fitness equipment, providing free aerobics courses, certifying our staff as personal fitness specialists/trainers, and supporting the Air Force "Fit to Fight" program initiative.

2) Fitness staffing levels are determined based on required program elements. customer with staff Towel programs do not earn additional manpower support, as such, inclusion of the program would be at the expense of other primary responsibilities. McChord's fitness program is comprised of two independent centers and several outdoor ball fields requiring intensive preventative maintenance, program oversight, planning, and execution. For example, McChord's Fitness Annex/HAWC receives no additional manning to maintain it's 80 operating hours per week. Our focus on meeting Team McChord's fitness levels is critical, therefore, despite earning no manpower to operate the Annex, we developed a workable staffing solution to fully operate that facility during the standard work week.

3) Our staff is professionally certified to provide one-on-one fitness instruction. Whether a patron simply needs to know how to operate a particular piece of cardiovascular or strength training equipment, or seeks individualized fitness "prescriptions" to meet fitness goals, the professional fitness center staff is available to help. It is more prudent to have staff members available to serve patrons over focusing their attention on an enhancement program with no direct benefit to the overall fitness and health of Team McChord. Experience demonstrates that provision of towel services have a detrimental effect on fitness staff morale and effectiveness, because they are unable to apply the skills with which they are equipped in supporting, developing, monitoring, and maintaining fitness program and goals for patrons.