Charles Lewis Armstrong (c. 1948August 14, 2011) was a United States Marine Corps

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. During his 21-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in 22 foreign countries. Armstrong is known for his contributions to

physical fitness Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of Outline of sports, sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate ...

and the many articles he wrote professionally.

Military career

Choosing to remain in the Marine Corps until 1991, Armstrong's career involved him in four shooting wars across 22 foreign countries. He held the posts of Marine officer instructor (MOI) at UT, head of Regular Marine Officer Procurement, U.S. Naval Attaché in El Salvador, G3 of Marine Forces Central Command in Riyadh, as well as others. Charles received over 40 decorations, medals, and citations, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and Purple Heart.

Business and authorship

Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, LtCol Armstrong completed the executive MBA program at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business and went on to work in various executive positions in companies ranging from start-ups to “

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

” before making three returns to combat zones as a civilian. These included Egypt, Lebanon, and, finally, the

Anbar Province Al Anbar Governorate ( ar, محافظة الأنبار; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, ...

of Iraq. Throughout this period, he wrote dozens of articles published in books, periodicals, and professional journals, such as The Marine Corps Gazette, one of which won the Wilcox Award for professional writing. In later years he enjoyed mentoring several military, retiring military, and graduating MBAs.

Fitness legacy

In addition to competing in numerous

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

tournaments, Armstrong, a lifelong fitness enthusiast, ran marathons and on two occasions set the world record for the most pull-ups completed in a single session, performing 1,435 repetitions in under five hours during his second attempt. He was a certified

parachutist Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

and

scuba diver Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

, and an avid weight lifter. Armstrong contributed a well-respected exercise regimen known as the "Armstrong Pullup Program" which he used to get his trainees into shape for passing the USMC PFT and to get himself ready for attempts on the pull-ups completed in a single session world record. His seven-day regimen has varied tasks for five days with two consecutive rest days. Many officer training organizations keep the text of his program on hand and available online.

Published works

References

Sources

* *

External links

"Author Page: Charles L. Armstrong"

"Armstrong Pullup Program"

"PDF Example of Armstrong Pullup Program text"
1940s births 2011 deaths Year of birth uncertain American military writers Writers from Texas Southern Methodist University alumni {{USMC-bio-stub