Purpose:
This White Paper serves to facilitate a 1HBCT-wide dialog about Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and Soldier Resilience. It is neither definitive nor authoritative, but a starting point with which to begin discussion. All members of the Raider Brigade and those who support the Brigade are encouraged to engage in this dialog.
Distribution:
Distribution is unlimited. Yet, the material in this paper is intended primarily as a resource for the leaders of the Raider Brigade. It can be referenced in the context of discussion and training, but not cited as official Army policy or doctrine.
Feedback and Participation:
Comments on this White Paper should be sent to the Raider Brigade Chaplain at 767-7492 or george.wallace@consus.army.mil or to the Brigade Chaplain NCOIC at keith.d.wright@conus.army.mil. Authorship: CH (MAJ) George L. Wallace, 1HBCT Chaplain is the author of the paper. I wish to thank members of the 1st BDE Warrior Resilience Round Table working group for their thoughts and help in shaping my thoughts for the paper. This working group met weekly from 20 October – 8 December 2011, to study Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and Soldier Resilience. The thoughts, discussion and suggestions of the working group helped shape this paper. Our discussions were structured by themes each week and included a significant reading list which can be accessed in the Chaplain folder of the 1st BDE portal (see link below). Working group themes were:
How can leaders develop their own resilience and nurture resilience in Soldier. Use of narrative reflection for self and professional development. PTSD / PT growth /symptoms and treatment Overview of the role of MRT A critical review of GAT Leadership, unit command climate, professionalism and their relationship to Soldier resilience
Research documentation for this paper can be accessed on the 1HBCT portal in the BDE Chaplain’s folder and the WRRT subfolder. https://marneportal.stewart.army.mil/1HBCT/BrigadeStaff/chaplain/default.aspx?RootFolder=%2F1HBCT%2FBrigadeStaff%2Fchaplain%2FDocuments%2FWRRT&FolderCTID=0x0120005AEF2D165A50784790CA70C968B4F5DA&View={7875158A-804E-4DD2-83BA-FB825BD6E821} The working group included:
CH (MAJ) George L. Wallace, 1HBCT Chaplain
MAJ Christie Nyland, 1HBCT S2
MAJ Bonnie Dunlop, 1HBCT JAG
CPT Lauren Teal, 1HBCT MED Planner
SFC Wendall Chase, 1-41 FA
SFC Kennth Lehew, 5-7 CAV
SSG Troy Rivers, 1-3 BSTB
SSG Keith D. Wright, 1HBCT Chaplain Assistant
Resilience.
“I will never quit.” - The Soldier‘s Creed
The stress and strain on the U.S. Army’s community due to nearly a decade of protracted war is well documented in the press and in scientific literature. In response, the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program is a preventive program that seeks to enhance psychological resilience among all members of the Army community, which includes soldiers, family members, and Department of the Army civilians. CSF is not a medical treatment program. Rather, CSF helps those community members who are psychologically healthy face life’s adversities—including combat and prolonged separation from loved ones—by providing evidence-based training.1
Why do we need a Brigade educational campaign to understand the Soldier Resilience and Comprehensive Soldier Fitness?
After ten years of sustained operations in multiple theaters, the Army has seen the need to better understand Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and Soldier Resilience. Suicide rates have risen steadily over the past ten years which serves as one indicator of the pressures on the force and the importance of fitness and resilience. The Army has engaged in extensive research in the arena of resilience while developing the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness concept and supporting components such as the Global Assessment Tool and Master Resilience Training. The concept itself and the tools are relatively new and not widely fully understood by Soldiers. The Raider Brigade Senior Leaders Warrior
