Filed under: U.S. Army
True total force fitness and overall well-being are crucial to Warfighter readiness and success, and awareness of this is now spreading like wildfire. Admiral Mullen’s Total Force Fitness Initiatives center on the importance of mind, body, family, and environment for overall Warfighter resilience.
There are numerous programs within the military designed to support and enhance Warfighter resilience – some unit specific and some branch or joint-service specific. The HPRC is in the process of gathering information on these myriad programs and highlighting those that are clearly evidence-based, that highlight the importance of mind-body integration, and that teach Warfighter-relevant skills and strategies for performance optimization.
Last week we added a section in our Total Force Fitness domain on the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program. We describe the program, give step-by-step information about its components, and highlight where to go for more information and program participation.
To give you a brief overview, CSF is an integrated Total Force Fitness (TFF) resilience-building program developed by the Army in collaboration with researchers in positive psychology and resilience building. CSF is designed to give Warfighters, their families, and their communities the knowledge, skills, and behaviors to “thrive in their lives” and successfully adapt to life’s challenges. Consistent with some of the components of Total Force Fitness identified by the DoD, CSF has five basic sectors: physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and family.
CSF was initially developed for the Army community, but it has now been adapted for use by the Air Force, Navy, and Marines. In addition, CSF provides training tools specifically designed for family members. Most of the training materials require AKO/DKO access, but the main exception is the family member materials, which are available for immediate download (with registration).
We hope that this new area of our website will be useful, help foster resilience in all, and provide a one-stop shop for previewing some resilience programs ongoing within the military.
In this new era of military human performance optimization, soldiers can forget about doing sit-ups. For the first time in 30 years, the Army has updated its fitness testing to better prepare soldiers for the demands of combat. CNN Health online reports that the Army replacing its Physical Fitness Test with an Army Physical Readiness Test. Changes to the fitness test include reducing the run for soldiers from two miles to 1.5 miles and replacing traditional drills such as sit-ups with "rowers."
The U.S. Army has retooled its yearly physical fitness test with more practical exercises geared to finding out if soldiers are in fighting shape. Along with other changes to the current test, troops will be required to run an obstacle course while dressed in full combat armor and dragging 180 pounds‹the equivalent of a human body.
The new Army Physical and Combat Readiness Test is being introduced at eight installations, and if all goes well, will be rolled out Army-wide on October 1st.
Click below to access the article.
Slate.com has an opinion piece on the Army's "Soldier Athlete" food program that was initiated last fall in cafeterias at Fort Jackson in South Carolina; Fort Sill in Oklahoma; Fort Knox in Kentucky; Fort Benning in Georgia, and Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri—the five bases where the Army's 10-week basic training sessions take place.
Click below to access the article:
First lady Michelle Obama called on parents, schools, workplaces and the military to combat America's obesity epidemic in a visit to Fort Jackson this past Thursday. As America's waistline has grown, finding young people fit enough to serve in the military has become a problem, U.S. Army officials told Obama during her three-hour visit.
Ms. Obama is promoting the "Let's Move!" program to combat childhood obesity. And she met with Army personnel, from privates to a three-star general, to find out how the military is dealing with the problem and how solutions might be transferred to the general population.
Click below to access the article
The November 7 edition of Army Times.com is reporting that a new Army PT test is coming. According to the article, officials are putting the final touches on a new physical fitness test that will be proposed to Army leadership at year’s end.
Click on link below to access the article.
Photo: Shutterstock.com
According to an article from Army.mil, Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) is shaping changes in Army boot camp; changes leaders say that are improving Soldiers’ preparedness for combat once they reach their units.
Click below to access the article.
In the 10/18 In the Crosshairs, we linked to a story on from CNN.com that reported on military medical researchers that have developed a blood test that can detect if someone has suffered a concussion or a mild traumatic brain injury.
In response, Wired.com has an article in their Danger Room section that calls into question the research that has been done by the Army.
KENS Channel 5 in San Antonio, TX has posted an article on their website that reports that, according to the military, the number of prospective recruits are just too fat to enlist, which is making it difficult to fill their ranks.
The article cites a non-profit group called Mission Readiness, made up of retired senior military leaders, who feel there is a solution to the problem.
The group has a three-point approach that would solve the obesity problem for prospective recruits:
- Get the junk food and high-calorie beverages out of our schools.
- Increase funding for the school lunch program.
- Support the development, testing and deployment of proven public-health interventions.
The October 14 edition of the Recordnet.com (Stockton, CA) has an interesting piece showing how one army recruit (as well as a self-described former couch potato ) was able to loose 50 pounds in order to get ready to report for duty at Fort Benning, GA.
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