Camp Elmore’s Strength and Conditioning Program Manager Pumped About Human Performance

As a former college soccer player who earned a degree in exercise science, Allen Sese is a big believer in the importance of focusing on human performance. 

His enthusiasm makes it a joy to come to work every day as the strength and conditioning program manager for Semper Fit’s Warrior Athlete Readiness and Resilience (WARR) program based at Camp Elmore in Norfolk, Va. The program serves Marines stationed in the Hampton Roads Area. 

A Path to Working with the Military 

While studying at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Sese became aware of opportunities to work in the field for the military as a civilian. After graduation, he took a deployed forces support position with the Navy, based out of the Norfolk Naval Station.  

He managed civilian fitness specialists (FITBOSSES) who travel with carrier strike groups. He often traveled with these groups during deployments to make sure programs were being implemented properly aboard the ships. It was during those assignments that he first met active-duty Marines on mission.  

“The Marines were my type of people,” Sese said.  

Working with Marines and Families 

Through his network of other civilian fitness professionals, he heard about an opening with the Marine Corps’ High Intensity Tactical Training (HITT) Program in 2019. 

He’s been at Camp Elmore ever since and has never looked back. Since joining the Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) team, Sese has valued the empowerment of experts and their collaboration to meet mission. The key to their success can be traced to one thing. 

“We help everyone build relationships,” Sese said.  

He has learned early on to get to know the Marines and family members he works with before unloading his store of fitness knowledge. He follows the adage, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”  

Giving Marines a Place to Connect 

The Semper Fit WARR civilians also play an important role by being the continuity piece in an environment that is always changing. During the busy season of permanent change-of-station moves, Sese and his peers help Marines and their families discover what makes Camp Elmore and the Hampton Roads area unique. This includes everything from surfing in the Atlantic Ocean to hiking in the mountains that are just a couple of hours away.  

“We’re Marines in a Navy world in Hampton Roads,” Sese said. “We have to carve out our own little path.” 

For Marines coming from Camp Lejeune or Camp Pendleton, where Marines dominate the scene, Norfolk can feel like a cultural shift, he said. The Hopkins Hall Performance Center at Camp Elmore is a great place for Marines to connect with peers while working on their total fitness.  

Building Resilience in Marines and Families 

While the HITT program took a holistic approach, the High Intensity part of the name perhaps kept some people away. Sese has found that the WARR program offering is drawing more Marines and families interested in strengthening all aspects of their fitness.  

“I’m already seeing a shift in understanding,” Sese said. “I think having readiness and resilience as part of the name is important.” 

Sese and the Semper Fit WARR team focus on teaching Marines and families how to manage total stress appropriately—when to push through and when to take a break and recover—how to prevent injuries, and how important proper sleep and nutrition are. “We train humans, not robots,” he said, “so we must manage their total allostatic load. Anyone can make PT hard, but can you make it appropriate?” (Allostatic load is the wear and tear on the body that accumulates as an individual is exposed to repeated or chronic stress.) 

They work with other MCCS professionals and provide warm handoffs when a Marine or family member could benefit from another program. Sometimes those opportunities happen organically as when a trainer turns things over to a chaplain for a quick talk at the end of a workout the chaplain just completed with a group of Marines.  

Going the Extra Mile for Marines and Families 

Sese and his staff do more than just track a Marine’s physical workouts.  

He recalled helping with an intense three-week Martial Arts Instructor Course (MAIC). The requirements are physically, mentally, and spiritually draining, so by the time the last physical test happens, the Marines are ready to celebrate with an informal graduation ceremony on the beach. Families are invited to attend. 

One Marine’s spouse, who was juggling several young children, wasn’t sure how she would manage to get to the ceremony. Sese told her to just get to the parking lot, and someone would be there to assist. On graduation day, Camp Elmore’s Semper Fit director helped the wife get everyone and their belongings to the beach, even carrying an infant in a carrier.  

Sese gets choked up retelling the moment when the Marine crossed the finish line at the end of the ruck and saw his family there to cheer for him and what the wife said to him afterward. “She said, ‘We know him as a husband and as a father, but we got to really see what he’s like as a Marine.’”  

For Sese, it’s moments like those that make working for MCCS so rewarding, he said. He hopes his peers in the human performance field will bring their talents to MCCS and the mission of serving warfighters and their families.