Video

Video by Hunter Rhoades

2024 H2F Symposium Break Out Session: Georgia Southern Tactical Performance Initiatives

U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training

May 1, 2024 | 22:31

Georgia Southern University (GSU) has a robust tactical athlete program. The Soldier Performance and Readiness (SPAR) is the military wing and includes the Soldier Athlete Human Performance Optimization (SAHPO) and Tactical Athlete Certificate (TAC) programs. The SAHPO program is the University’s in-person educational model targeted towards 3rd Infantry Division soldiers, whereas the TAC program is a fully online educational model for soldiers. GSU faculty are currently collecting data in a large-scale research endeavor assessing which educational model (In-person, fully online, or a combination) is best used to educate soldiers on various injury prevention topics.

Future plans, beginning in the fall of 2024, include establishing a tactical athlete institute and developing a new continuing education course for soldiers.

GSU is currently forming a Tactical and Occupational Performance (TOP) Institute to address the health, fitness, and performance needs of tactical athletes. The TOP Institute will leverage the talent from multiple colleges within the university under centralized leadership and inform evidence-based health and fitness programs. This will include educational courses, research, and community engagement initiatives that support optimal health and fitness while actively soliciting and receiving feedback from service members and leaders to drive innovation and translational research. This will create a system for designing, developing, and implementing training programs that can seamlessly sync with the efforts of Department of Defense labs, military human performance professionals, and operational units at any echelon.