Fort Belvoir opens new human performance center
Price of admission? Three leg tucks
What once was a field house on Fort Belvoir, Va., has evolved into Specker Human Performance Center, complete with six lanes of turf to accommodate needs for the Army Combat Fitness Test. But, Specker can also help all community members meet their fitness goals and build overall resilience.
Sheila Edwards, sports and fitness director at Belvoir MWR, said Specker is ongoing proof of MWR’s commitment to Soldiers’ evolving fitness needs and to one of MWR’s missions of providing readiness-centered, physical fitness options.
“Re-opening Specker as a human performance center is awesome,” Edwards said. “It was such a team effort, with equipment storage and moves.” Some of Specker’s equipment, including weights and exercise machines, used to be in Belvoir’s Kawamura HPC. “This is a great, state-of-the-art facility. It’s Specker 2.0,” adding it’s the 4th fitness facility she’s opened on Belvoir.
“It’s exciting to have this great place, where everyone can come and just get stronger,” she said.
George Dickson, Belvoir DFMWR director, said renovations to Specker continue MWR’s commitment to sustain, train and ensure total mission readiness for the country’s warfighters. He said the need for adequate training space quickly outgrew Kawamura HPC’s capacity.
“As a field house, Specker was integral to Belvoir for many decades, dating to 1988,” Dickson said. The newest human performance center on Belvoir is named after Sgt. Joe C. Specker, a Combat Engineer who earned the Medal of Honor for his actions in Mount Porchia, Italy, in January 1944.
“The renovations to Specker Human Performance Center show our continued commitment to finding ways to make the lives of our Soldiers, Service members and their Families, better,” Dickson said.
“Having a facility that’s dedicated to cultivating an environment of health and performance demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the community,” Dickson said.
Sgt. 1st Class Anielka Ortiz is a logistician and unit deployment manager for the deployment support branch at Defense Logistics Agency headquarters, a mission partner on Fort Belvoir.
“The facility is so well-equipped. I love it all,” Ortiz said at the opening. “Everything here adds to our resilience and strength training. This space is great, especially the turf lanes.” Ortiz trains and tests about 30 personnel.
Specker Human Performance Center has 23,000 square feet of equipment, including stationary bikes, tires, wall balls and kettle bells; expanded locker rooms; rig space; rowers and climbers. It’s open at 1182 12th St., Fort Belvoir, Va., and can be reached by calling 703-806-4430 or 4647. The staff there is trained and can help units and individuals.
Margaret Steele
Fort Belvoir Garrison Public Affairs