Team Mildenhall builds fitness mindset with formation run

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Thomas Trower
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  As the sun rose through the fog here Oct. 23, hundreds of Airmen from the 100th Air Refueling Wing and RAF Mildenhall associate units began the "Where Eagles Dare" Team Mildenhall Run.

Unit commanders called out jodies and motivated their Airmen as they ran the 1.5 mile route in a four-column formation along South Perimeter Road.

"Fitness is very important, and we all need to be prepared for the new [Air Force physical training] requirements," said Col. Michael Winters, 100th ARW vice commander. "There are a lot of people out here who, if they do the exact same on the test as last year, will fail."

The colonel explained that the new hard cutoff scores force Airmen to meet specific standards on each part of the PT test. This won't be the last Team Mildenhall run either, he said.

"We are hoping to do these runs more often and expand on them," Colonel Winters added. "Our next run may be open to families, so we'd like to see people out here with strollers and pets."

Planning is underway to convert the Turkey Trot run scheduled for Nov. 21 into the next wing run, said Master Sgt. Paul McCourty, 100th Force Support Squadron.

At the conclusion of the run, commanders gave T-shirts, water bottles, and gift certificates to their unit members.