From 82nd Airborne to the Weight Room: Chad Deaver on Building a Tactical Program from the Ground Up

In this episode, Coach Ray and Coach Travis sit down with Chad Deaver — former 82nd Airborne Paratrooper, two-time US Strongman Nationals qualifier, and tactical strength and conditioning coach at Fort Stewart — for a candid conversation about what it actually takes to build a tactical fitness program from scratch.

Chad's path wasn't a straight line. After the Army, he earned his B.S. in Exercise Science from Appalachian State (where he studied under the editor of the NSCA's Essentials textbook), completed his Master's at UW-La Crosse as a graduate assistant football S&C coach, interned with UCF football, and worked with high school athletes in Denver before returning to serve soldiers at Fort Stewart in 2021.

He shares what the early days of building a tactical program really looked like — no playbook, no guidance — and how small wins, like helping a soldier crush her post-pregnancy ACFT, snowballed into full unit buy-in. Chad also breaks down his full plyometrics progression system, from drop squats to upper body plyo push-ups, and why teaching soldiers to land matters more than teaching them to jump.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-deaver/

https://www.instagram.com/coach.chad.deaver/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

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