A quarter century of fitness

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Madelyn Brown
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Any service member or civilian who has utilized the Fitness Center or taken a physical fitness assessment during the past quarter century on Travis has been impacted, directly or indirectly, by one person.

Barbara Green, Air Force fitness specialist, has trained Airmen, conducted PT tests and encouraged a healthier lifestyle for the Travis populace for more than 25 years at the Fitness Center.

The Baltimore native has made fitness a focal point of her life since the age of 11.

"I was one of 10 children," Green said. "My parents never had a lot of money to sign me up for costly activities. That was how I came to love the physical recreation activities that were available for free at facilities near my house. It was so important to me, I pretty much lived there."

Green carried the value of fitness with her all her life, and achieved a degree in health, physical education and recreation. In 1990, she started work at the Travis Fitness Center, which was located on the other side of Travis Blvd. She worked the front desk during the night shift for the following four years.

Since her introduction to military fitness culture in 1990, Green has witnessed the evolution of Air Force fitness, from the era before the ergometry cycle test, used from 1992 to 2004, to the current physical fitness assessment.

"It does my heart good to see how fitness has evolved to something valuable," Green said. "It goes beyond push ups and sit ups. Airmen are competing in community events and taking fitness back to their families. They're participating in something bigger than themselves. It's all about building relationships through movement."

According to Tech. Sgt. Luela Guevarra, 60th Force Support Squadron Fitness Center Operations NCO in charge, Green brings that correlation of fitness and relationship building to the staff at the fitness center.

"I've worked with Barb (Green) since 2012," she said. "She's willing to lend an ear to anyone from the lowest ranking Airman to the base commander. Barb teaches those around her how to tackle life optimistically, she's an uplifting force for everyone in the fitness center."

For Green, the current physical fitness assessment has been a vast improvement from past indicators of physical fitness for Airmen.

"People tend to get upset by change, but for an assessment that needs to be applied to a massive amount of people to gauge their overall fitness, it's a good test," she said. "The Air Force has definitely made me a champion of change. With every adjustment to the fitness program that comes along, I have to quickly get more than 10,000 people on the same page.

"I see those changes as a challenge. The current fitness assessment is on its seventh Air Force Instruction amendment. That means those in charge are listening to Airmen on how to improve this program. I'd rather surround myself with individuals constantly working to improve themselves and their surroundings than be in a community stuck in its ways."

Green, along with her staff, conducts more than 10,200 fitness tests annually. Currently, she has no plans of retirement, and is looking forward to the challenges that come with adapting to modern fitness culture, she said.

"I love coming to work every day," Green said. "I've become rich based off all the people I get to meet through fitness and movement."