Several obstacles can derail women from reaching or succeeding in the elite combat schools and will need to be mediated. The main obstacles this article focuses on are the current standard fitness requirements for attending an advanced combat school, the high absolute strength and power demands required by these combat schools, and the unique physiology of women compared to men.

Soldiers in today’s Army should be exposed to realistic and stressful training scenarios. Additionally, they should be educated on the physical, psychological, and cognitive effects of combat and fatigue. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) cadets are an ideal training audience since they are already immersed in an academic environment.

This article provides recommendations and advice from a former active-duty Infantry/Military Intelligence Officer in the United States Army on the transition to becoming a tactical strength and conditioning coach.

In this hands-on lecture from the NSCA's 2014 TSAC Conference, Lee Burton talks about the need to remedy mobility dysfunction in tactical athletes, and discusses the Functional Movement System and programming functional exercise progressions.

NSCA’s Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning is a NSCA resource developed for those seeking the TSAC-F certification and for strength and conditioning coaches or personal trainers who work with tactical populations such as military, law enforcement, and fire and rescue personnel.

Get to know Army Lieutenant Colonel Nick Barringer, Program Director for the United States Army-Baylor University Master’s in Nutrition. Barringer shares how he originally planned to become a strength and conditioning coach before a nutrition course inspired him to pursue dietetics. However, it was his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) credential that ultimately landed him his role as the first 75th Ranger Regiment (Army Rangers) Dietitian. He recounts drawing inspiration from the Navy SEALS to start the Ranger Athlete Warrior (RAW) program and seeing the Special Operations THOR3 program follow suit — laying the groundwork for the US Army Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) system. Barringer and McMahon discuss the synergy between strength and conditioning coaches and dietitians, as well as cultural challenges and diverse training ages in tactical settings. The pair also stress the importance of sales and building relationships before discussing basic nutrition advice and pathways into tactical and dietetics careers. Connect with Nick on Instagram at: @nickbarringer.phd.rdn or by email: nickbarringer35@gmail.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

This article provides methods used by tactical facilitators, related research articles, and professional interviews to demonstrate how physical conditioning facilitates the transition from practice to duty for service members, including law enforcement and fire and rescue personnel.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 TSAC Annual Training, Mick Stierli discusses the new 12-week structured exercise program for law enforcement that was recently implemented in New South Wales, Australia. Stierli explains how to integrate a similar program into an organization and how to gain buy-in from tactical athletes.