V.A. Boldin, associate professor of MTC at TSU
V.G. Shil'ko, professor, Dr.Hab.
Tomsk State University, Tomsk

Key words: military training center (MTC), physical fitness, professional military activity, conditioning and special applied military training.

Introduction. Military training center (MTC) at TSU is a military department, where profile training of officers is carried out. MTC's were created by the governmental decree № 275 dated March 6, 2008, in 37 universities of the country (federal government educational institutions of higher professional education) and are now implementing the new form of training officers for contract military service [3, 5].

Students of the Faculty of Radiophysics (FRP) and the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) are admitted to MTC at TSU after the third year of studies.

The study unit "Physical training" is missing in the officer training curriculum, as well as the skill standards for the graduates of MTC are lacking the requirements to the level of their psycho-physical fitness.

The purpose of the study was to develop, test and implement the curriculum of conditioning and special applied military training for the cadets of MTC.

Materials and methods. At the initial stage 2 groups were formed: an experimental (consisting of students of FRP specializing in "Operation and maintenance of ground-based radio communications equipment" and "Operation and maintenance of tactical control and communication devices of Strategic Missile Forces") and a control one (students of FFL specializing in "Linguistic support of military operations"). Students from the control group followed the curriculum which did not include physical training, and those from the experimental group studied in accordance with the same training program but it was supplemented by the study unit "Physical training".

A test was used to evaluate physical fitness level of the cadets of MTC (Table 1).

Results and discussion. The test results and the analysis of the average indicators of the level of development of the basic physical qualities of the cadets of MTC indicated the low level of their physical development, the lack of skills of applied professional training and, consequently, the inadequacy of the identified indicators for the military officers.

The arithmetic mean indicator of performing the "pull-ups" exercise in the control and experimental groups equaled 12 ("satisfactory" mark). The result of the cadets of military academies with a similar specialization was not less than 15, which corresponds to the top "excellent" grade of the current skill standard.

It took the cadets of MTC 13 min 50 sec to cover the 3000-meter distance - which is considered to be a "poor" grade (while the cadets of the military academies needed just over 12 min to get a "good" grade).

The average indicator of the speed test among the cadets of MTC was 14.7 sec - "satisfactory" grade (the cadets of the military academies got top grades while covering the same sprint distance).

Similar situation was observed during the rest of the tests, such as long grenade throwing, long horse vault, as well as performing gymnastic exercises and hurdle race.

The analysis of the physical training process in MTC's proved that the increase of its effectiveness requires implementation of a complex of organizational and methodological conditions, among which is a motivational and value component contributing to understanding of the relevance and significance of physical improvement of future officers.

In order to determine the motivation for physical training and healthy lifestyle we used a questionnaire survey in our study.  The sampling included 40 people (20 - the experimental group, 20 - the control group) aged 20-22 years. 95% of the respondents have completed secondary education when entering the university. Among the personal qualities essential for future officers, 74% specified "purposefulness", 68% - "responsibility", 63% - "diligence and discipline". Among the reasons preventing them from achieving better academic progress more than a half of the respondents (58%) emphasized poor organization of the training process. To the question "Are you satisfied with the chosen officer career?", 52% of the involved answered "Yes", 42% find difficulty in replying, 6% answered "No". 42% of the respondents did their morning exercises on a regular basis, the same percentage of the respondents repeatedly took part in sport games in their spare time [1].

In order to evaluate the psycho-physiological and psychological qualities and functions of the body the computer complex "NS-Psychotest" was used at the initial stage of the experiment. According to the survey results, all the probationers were in good state of health and had no signs of psychological problems or mental disorders.

The test of psychophysiological indicators as well as the social studies convinced us of the need to develop and implement the compulsory study unit "Physical training" into the officer training curriculum. The developed physical training course is designed for the 1st academic year (4th course) and comprises the following core units:

- fall (spring) season - power walk/run and track and field athletics, show jumping;

- winter season - gymnastics and athletic training, ski training.

Furthermore, regardless of the season the training process is to comprise complex classes including exercises from different sections of the physical training program (running, horizontal bar routine, hurdle race), as well as sport and active games [1].

The effectiveness of the developed program for physical training classes was proved in the course of the educational experiment. According to all the indicators of the studied physical qualities, significant changes were registered on completing the survey as compared to the results obtained at the beginning of the experiment (refer to Table 1).

By the end of the experiment, in the control group the reducing trend was registered in the indicators of development of physical qualities as compared to the initial stage of the experiment (Table 1).

At the initial and the final stages of the experiment, the cadets' physiological capabilities were studied in order to estimate their functional reserves, and there was a comparative evaluation of the obtained results (Table 2).

Table 1. Results of physical fitness test of cadets of MTC at TSU

It was found that physical exercises have a positive impact on the state of health and physical fitness of the respondents. During the training process chronotropic cardiac reserve reduces and its resistance to physical load increases, which indicates the increase in the fitness level. The obtained data prove the positive dynamics that defines the improvement of the physiological capabilities of the body.

Conclusion. The results of the study confirm the importance of physical training and the need to introduce it as a compulsory section in the curriculum for students of MTC in the system of higher professional education.

It is assumed appropriate to submit to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation the package of guidance documents and a report on the experiment to discuss the issue.

References

1. Guseva, N.L. Sociological analysis of way of life and sports activity of students / N.L. Guseva, V.G. Shil'ko // Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. - Tomsk, 2011. – № 352. P. 199–202. (In Russian)
2. Kapilevich, L.V. Monitoring of physical education in universities of the Siberian Federal District / L.V. Kapilevich, V.G. Shil'ko // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 2010. – № 10. – P. 16–18. (In Russian)
3. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Instruction in physical training and sport in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. – Мoscow, 2001. (In Russian)
4.  Potovskaya, E.S. The use of the heart rate variability analysis to assess the body functional status of female students / E.S. Potovskaya, A.V. Kabachkova, V.G. Shil'ko // Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. - Tomsk, 2011. – № 346. – P. 140–143. (In Russian)
5. Shil'ko, V.G. University physical education / V.G. Shil'ko, N.L. Guseva, T.A. Shil'ko // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 2012. – № 11. – P. 59–62. (In Russian)

Corresponding author: vshilko@mail.ru