Tactical Conditioning Optimisation Program

Persons serving in tactical occupations are unique. What makes them unique and the occupational stressors they face need to be understood to ensure effective mission performance and injury risk mitigation strategies. This course aims to provide knowledge of tactical occupation uniqueness to ensure that best practice testing, screening, rehabilitation, return-to-work, physical conditioning, and training are applied.

To provide best training, treatment and rehabilitation for tactical populations, the use of testing and screening is vital. Effective testing and screening can be used to inform injury risk, health and wellbeing, and occupational capability of tactical personnel. This course provides an understanding of the applications, limitations, and strengths of testing and screening frameworks in tactical populations.

One commonality across all tactical populations is the requirement to wear and carry external loads. These loads, while vital for safety and capability, are known to lead to injuries and even impede mission performance. This course provides an understanding of the differences in load carriage requirements within various occupational contexts and the negative impacts of these loads, to better inform physical conditioning and risk mitigation strategies.

Trainees across all tactical spectrums are at a higher risk of injuries than qualified personnel and are subjected to compressed training times and accelerated learning and conditioning programs. This course provides an understanding of the individual and agency contexts that are required to ensure a holistic, evidence-based approach to physical conditioning is applied to increase fitness while minimising injury risk.

A lack of dedicated training outcomes, shift work, poor sleep and dietary habits, and the general chronic nature of the tactical occupation make developing and maintaining physical fitness across the occupational lifespan a complex challenge. This course focuses on maintaining and developing the fitness of qualified personnel, rehabilitation requirements and preparation for specialist selection.

Injuries can have a devastating impact on the individual and organisation. However, many injuries are preventable once their causes and mechanisms are known. This course will provide an understanding of tactical workplace injuries, their impacts to the individual and organisation, and how to best mitigate and treat injury occurrence.

Tactical forces are drawn from the community and consist of different sexes, ages, and employment status that must be accommodated for during physical conditioning. These personnel are also often required to work in hostile and austere environments. This course focusses on the diverse populations and unique environments that tactical personnel must be aware of if conditioning program's are to be effective.

This course centres on the need for the physical training of tactical populations to extend beyond the traditional fitness industry and athlete performance constructs to meet occupation requirements. This is vital as failure on tactical operations has consequences beyond failure to meet goals or win competition points but could result in injury and mortality.