Upgrades to Navy Fitness Centers Help Improve Quality of Life for Military, Civilians

By the end of September, four Navy fitness centers on JBPHH will be open around the clock and in May, gyms were outfitted with $600,000 in new fitness apparatus.

JBPHH Fitness Center celebrated the start of 24/7 access this month with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Two other gyms – Pier Side Fitness Center and the Wahiawa Annex Fitness Center – are scheduled for round the clock access by Sept. 30. Hickam Fitness Center has had 24/7 access since 2017 but will be updating its computer system and offering expanded access to its showers and basketball court.

“I am thrilled that we’re able to provide 24/7 gym access to the service members on the joint base. We will continue to do everything we can to improve the quality of life on the base,” said Capt. Samuel White, JBPHH commander.

Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), which oversees all 70 Navy bases around the globe, signed a memorandum on March 8 authorizing installation commanding offers to move forward with implementing 24-hour entry to fitness facilities. “If we require our Sailors to be physically fit and healthy so they can fulfill the Navy mission and deploy at a moment’s notice, then we must provide the facilities and resources for them to do so,” said Vice Adm. Scott Gray, commander of Navy Installations Command. “Not only does this make sense, it is the right thing to do for the quality of life of our Sailors and other service members.”

Military personnel stand duty at varying hours of the day, including night shifts, depending on their roles and responsibilities. As a result, service members often had difficulty getting to the MWR gym during normal business hours and were forced to find alternatives.

“Maximizing access to fitness facilities makes it more convenient for our Sailors,” Gray said. “We all know that exercise benefits one’s physical health, but it also reinforces mental, emotional, and social health, which are important for our Sailors’ overall wellbeing.”

In addition to 24/7 access, four manned fitness centers received $600,000 worth of new gym equipment including treadmills, elliptical machines, strength training machines and squat racks.

In the past, gyms on Navy installations with 24/7 access did not allow the use of any free weights like squat racks, Olympic benches, Smith machines, and dumbbells over 75 pounds, according to Dawn Pierce, sports and fitness program director for Commander, Navy Region Hawaii (CNRH) and JBPHH, JB9. This current rollout does, a key benefit for Sailors and civilians who like to weight train.

Pierce added that the Department of Defense requires that Navy fitness centers update at least 20% of their gym equipment each year.

Melissa Darling, the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) director for JBPHH, said unmanned fitness centers are also benefitting from the equipment upgrade. The gently used equipment replaced by the new gym equipment is being distributed among five unmanned Navy gyms: Family Fitness Center, Ford Island Fitness Center, Makalapa Fitness Center, and West Loch Fitness Center.

To gain 24/7 gym access, registration is required and is only for authorized users 18 years of age and older. The process can be completed at any participating fitness center and involves completing a form to create a household within the MWR system. The fitness center user must then register their common access card (CAC) for updated access privileges.

Darling said the fitness center upgrades will have positive and lasting impacts.

“Ultimately … the fitness program is essential to mission readiness and contributes directly to our MWR mission,” she said. “This is hopefully going to have a positive effect on the quality of life for our military service members.”