The day I graduated from my Cavalry Scout One Station Unit Training (OSUT) at Ft. Knox marked a new beginning for me. I went into OSUT with the determination not to be the “old, fat guy who couldn’t keep up with the youngsters.”

Before joining the Army, I was the stereotype of an American middle-aged man. I had a profound belly and love handles going on. Oblivious of my approach to obesity, I deluded myself into believing that playing rugby for my local club side in Honolulu was getting me fit.  And, I had quietly slid into a middle-aged malaise.

To qualify to join the Army, I dropped from 327 lbs to 297 lbs to pass the tape qualifications--a formula of weight, height, waist, and neck measurements that determine body fat percentage. I looked better than I had in a long time. I walked into reception feeling good about myself, but still had much work to do.

Once out of reception and into my troop, I’m not sure what my Drill Sergeants (DSs) thought of me. I was older and bigger than every one of them except the senior DS. I was even older than my CO. I had hoped to make it through OSUT anonymously, but due to my age and size, it was not meant to be.

Early on, we were taking the 1-1-1 Physical Fitness Test. The DSs were chattering about the guys they expected to do poorly--the “slugs.” Having just completed my run, I was struggling to catch my breath (my fitness was still not where it needed to be) when my battle buddies suddenly said, “Seggar!” “Seggar, the DSs are talking about you.”

My ears tuned into their boisterous discussion. “So, what about Seggar? He looks like he would be a slug--how’d he do?” My DS said, “Yeah, when I first saw him I thought he would be completely useless, but he pounded his way through the push-ups like it was nothing and he just got a 7:21 on the 1 mile. Not so bad for a 38 year-old.”

That comment sparked my decision to finish at the top of my troop. Just keeping up was no longer enough, I was going to out perform the younger guys.

When running, I did everything that I could to make sure I was pushing myself more than I had before. My best friend at OSUT and I would challenge each other in our group workouts pushing one another to do better, be better. The result was that he and I ended up in the top of our cycle in the APFT. I finished third in my platoon and sixth in my troop.

Out of roughly 130 guys, I finished in the top 5% of the troop.

In our western society, youth and the “strength of youth” is something that we value greatly. We have come to believe that after a certain age it is time to put ourselves into the mothballs and prepare ourselves for retirement.

Even in the Army this mindset is prevalent. Midway through my training, I talked to my DS about my future in the CAV, he predicted that my body would not hold up beyond the age of 45. Well, by his estimation, my career as an active CAV Scout is practically over before it has begun.

Contrary to society, the Army, and my DS, I believe that 40 is the new 25, which makes 60 the new 45. Because of how I have taken care of my body and my new found health, I don’t subscribe to the notion that at 45+ I must go quietly into the night. I plan on having a long career in the Army both as an active duty soldier and in the National Guard.

Now, I don’t know if my body will hold up beyond 45, but I am determined to prove the doubters wrong. How? Well, I’ll get into that later posts.