Can someone explain the Kenyan-American US Army runners?

They basically go to Kenya to train and dope like hell then come back to the states and run fast times.

They do what any eligible individual can do. They walk into a recruiting station and sign up. You do not have to be a citizen to serve as an enlisted Soldier. Following basic and specialty training they apply for WCAP and if they meet the criteria they are accepted.

Serving will speed up the citizenship process but it still takes a bit of time. They make way more money as a specialist in the Army than most of their peers who try to eke out a living as a "pro" runner. More post collegiate runners should do the same. That is how many runners in the 1960s did it. If you are really good the chances of deploying are very low. You do have to accept you will lose a year of training while you go through basic and AIT though.

Lots of folks join the Army as a path to citizenship. I've worked with a handful of these folks.

https://www.uscis.gov/news/fact-sheets/naturalization-through-military-service-fact-sheet

Some of these folks are good athletes. WACP has been around for a while:

http://www.armymwr.com/wcap/default.aspx

Alan

Marauder44 wrote:

They do what any eligible individual can do. They walk into a recruiting station and sign up. You do not have to be a citizen to serve as an enlisted Soldier. Following basic and specialty training they apply for WCAP and if they meet the criteria they are accepted.

Serving will speed up the citizenship process but it still takes a bit of time. They make way more money as a specialist in the Army than most of their peers who try to eke out a living as a "pro" runner. More post collegiate runners should do the same. That is how many runners in the 1960s did it. If you are really good the chances of deploying are very low. You do have to accept you will lose a year of training while you go through basic and AIT though.

Basic and AIT is typically not a year. And you still "train". You'll lose 9 weeks in basic because you have to do what they tell you. In AIT, for most MOS's, you can do extra PT all you want.

Alan

Ok, so they're in this World Class Athlete Program. I did a little googling and it looks like Chelimo and Kipchirchir are both in Oregon (and affiliated with Nike), while Leonard Korir is in Colorado Springs. So my question becomes, what actual obligations do these guys have to the Army? Chelimo's training in Oregon, at Nike in Beaverton, with Dan Browne. So what is he actually doing for the Army? Does he have army-related training/work responsibilities?

Browne was a West Point grad and in the Colorado National Guard.

My guess is that these guys are in the Guard or Reserve. "One weekend a month and two weeks a year!"

Alan

You should sign up. Deployment is a risk.

Your cousin Marvin Berry wrote:

You should sign up. Deployment is a risk.

Thanks to Alan for the answers.

Regarding the above post, haha, not me. I was really just curious. I suppose I'm still young enough to join up, but an ankle surgery that ended my mediocre college running career pretty much negates that possibility. And if you were thinking that I was WCAP material, I can assure you that I am not and never was. It seems like a good option for these guys, though.

perhaps alan or someone else would like to chime in, but I recall the program only being a 3yr commitment by the army, as in the 3 yrs leading into the olympics. thus, at the end of every olympic cycle, the first year following the games, there essentially is no wcap. most of the athletes I knew would just go to OCS or some sort of officer training like that, but I have no idea what hte protocol is nowadays.

The current WCAP track and field roster under Browne has eight members: seven native Kenyan distance runners and a race walker.

Five of the Kenyans have joined the Army since 2014. The race walker joined in 2000.

Make of that what you will.

(Elkanah Kibet, who became a member of the program in December '15, is not shown on the link).

http://www.armymwr.com/wcap/track-field.aspx

I woul love to hear from one of these guys or someone who's talked with them (there's also Elkanah Kibet) about how they chose this route.

One guess is that if you grow up in Kenya runner culture, you're used to this "career path" because don't a lot of Kenya's top runners official belong to some sort of national police type program?

Alan, the duration of AIT varies based on the MOS. So yes, it can take a year. Medical and intelligence MOS each have training paths that can take far longer than infantry training. Throw in things like airborne school, language training, PCSing, etc and you lose a year. Yes, you are doing physical excerise but it is by no means equivalent to 80-100 miles/wk.

WCAP does not require that you serve at a specific post (often it is Ft Carson though). You go where the facilities and coach thinks is best. You do have some mandatory recruiting duties as a member of the team. BTW, if you can't make WCAP there is always the All Army teams.

the longest meters wrote:

The current WCAP track and field roster under Browne has eight members: seven native Kenyan distance runners and a race walker.

Five of the Kenyans have joined the Army since 2014. The race walker joined in 2000.

Make of that what you will.

(Elkanah Kibet, who became a member of the program in December '15, is not shown on the link).

http://www.armymwr.com/wcap/track-field.aspx

Thanks for the link. I did not know that Leonard Korir (2015 NYC Half Champ) had joined. Is it possible that the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials will feature Rupp surrounded by a group of Kenyan-born American Citizens wearing "Army" singlets?

The WCAP group has taken an interesting turn, almost like a Kenyan version of Hansons. It used to be guys like Nate Pennington.

If I would have completely understood the benefits of service I would have joined a long time ago, right out of college.

Alan

Ackley wrote:

the longest meters wrote:

The current WCAP track and field roster under Browne has eight members: seven native Kenyan distance runners and a race walker.

Five of the Kenyans have joined the Army since 2014. The race walker joined in 2000.

Make of that what you will.

(Elkanah Kibet, who became a member of the program in December '15, is not shown on the link).

http://www.armymwr.com/wcap/track-field.aspx

Thanks for the link. I did not know that Leonard Korir (2015 NYC Half Champ) had joined. Is it possible that the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials will feature Rupp surrounded by a group of Kenyan-born American Citizens wearing "Army" singlets?

The WCAP group has taken an interesting turn, almost like a Kenyan version of Hansons. It used to be guys like Nate Pennington.

Didn't these guys finish college? Why only two officers?

19A and 88M.....10 years ago I would be very worried for their safety.

Alan

I did the all army team right out of law school. Three months per year at Presidio San Fran and only duty was running. Then we had the all service meet and after that headed back to our stations. I was one of only two officers on the team. My boss was nice to let me go each year. Anyway a great way to continue running after college

That's what I figured.

I have talked to some of the guys on the all army combatives team at hood and that is their only job....to train.

These all army and WACP spots are a great recruiting tool so it makes sense that the army would leave these guys alone when it comes to regular army BS.

Here we are....on the most popular running message board in the world....talking about the US Army.

Alan

Runningart2004 wrote:

Ackley wrote:

Thanks for the link. I did not know that Leonard Korir (2015 NYC Half Champ) had joined. Is it possible that the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials will feature Rupp surrounded by a group of Kenyan-born American Citizens wearing "Army" singlets?

The WCAP group has taken an interesting turn, almost like a Kenyan version of Hansons. It used to be guys like Nate Pennington.

Didn't these guys finish college? Why only two officers?

19A and 88M.....10 years ago I would be very worried for their safety.

Alan

As for the lack of officers, I am guessing that even though these guys are college grads, they don't meet the standards (language/math) for active duty officers. When I entered the Army 25 years ago, you had to be pretty sharp to be an active duty officer. I presume it is the same now.

Got to be a us citizen to be an officer. Can be enlisted without being us citizen