Navy Promotes Culture of Fitness with Flight Deck Boot Camp

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Sailors and civilians gathered aboard the USS Midway Museum to recreate the boot camp experience during the first Flight Deck Boot Camp, Oct. 11-12, as part of the Navy's 237th birthday celebration.

The Sailor-led sessions were open to the public, and featured many aerobic and anaerobic exercises commonly used at Recruit Training Command, including push-ups, curl-ups, sprints, lunges and various stretches.

"San Diego is where we live, work and play, so it's important to interact with people of our community," said Lt. Cmdr. Cate Cook, coordinator of the event. "San Diego and the Navy are both fitness-oriented, so what better place to do this than the Midway?"

Midway's jagged steel surface gave participants a unique opportunity to exercise outside of their comfort zones while experiencing a piece of the Navy's history. Navy personnel divided the event into two levels to provide for both casual participants and serious athletes.

"Fitness is overall a good motivator, whether you're in the military or not," said Chief Master-at-Arms Creighton Archie, one the instructors in charge of the event. "Our plan was to welcome civilians out to show them how the Navy conducts physical training and how we keep ourselves fit, especially when we're deployed or in times where a gym isn't always available. They got a chance to see how we do it, and hopefully they can take that and add it to their routines as well."

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