An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Many missions, one goal: HAWC staff devoted to health

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachelle Elsea
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Commonly confused as part of the 325th Force Support Squadron or the individuals who run physical training tests, the Health and Wellness Center was established in 1995 as part of each base's medical group.

Their mission is to assess health risks of individuals, families and groups of the Tyndall community and to furnish them with knowledge, resources and skills that encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors in order to prevent illness and injury.

The HAWC at Tyndall is comprised of three civilian employees: an exercise physiologist, a dietician and an office manager.

"Our main focus is to enhance the fitness and readiness of our active duty population," said Mr. Robert Pagenkopf, 325th Aerospace Medicine Squadron exercise physiologist. "We can do that via exercise knowledge, nutrition, health promotion or even tobacco cessation classes."

Mr. Pagenkopf has been a part of the Tyndall HAWC for five and a half years and is a prior Air Force medical technician.

"Being prior military and medically boarded for a hip replacement, I thought I would be a good fit," he said. "I love and enjoy fitness and I wanted to teach people that no matter their condition, they still have the ability to exercise. So, when I got out of the military, I went to school for exercise science."

He said the best part of the job is teaching the various exercise classes.

"It is always nice to see people work hard and do well," Mr. Pagenkopf said.

He teaches classes such as running clinics, physical training leader's course, and strength core classes.

"Our HAWC fit program is the most popular," said Mr. Pagenkopf. "It is our only five-day a week fitness class."

The class is designed to strengthen and train all the body's core muscles.

The dietician, Ms. Michelle Gautreaux, also teaches an array of classes.

"She leads all the disease management classes that focus on medical concerns such as diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol," said Mr. Pagenkopf. "She also provides one-on-one nutritional consults, meal planning, food log reviews, dietary supplement information, and performance nutrition and hydration."

The dietician's courses are mostly-hands on. She even offers cooking demos.

"This month, she will be highlighting the Air Force's better body, better life nutritional weight management program, which will be a series of five classes," said Mr. Pagenkopf.

Also, another huge addition is the two-day Newton National Running Clinic and Symposium coming up Aug. 6 and 7.

"It will include education on running form, along with a gate form analysis and information on running shoes," Mr. Pagenkopf. "The instructors are coming from Boulder, Colo. It was the new command chief's initiative after he attended the clinic elsewhere. We are probably the fourth or fifth base to host it."

They will be accompanied by Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, a two-time Air Force Marathon winner, who is working with the Air Force to standardize running instruction.

"Sixty percent of injuries during exercise are due to running," Mr. Pagenkopf said. "We see about 15 to 20 profiles for running a week. This clinic will offer a different way of running that is more efficient and will help prevent injuries."

Although, the HAWC has a slew of misconceptions, its main focus is to help.

"We don't want the stigma that if you fail your PT test you now have to go to the HAWC," said Mr. Pagenkopf. "We not only help people that are struggling, we are also here for those who want to enhance their performance."