Staying Resilient: Practicing to face change and setbacks

By Ms. Lindsey R Monger (ATEC)February 26, 2015

Staying Resilient: Practicing to face change and setbacks
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Maryland - She has been deployed twice to Iraq, while completing an online associate's degree in Human Services at Columbia College. She has done many things on her own, but it wasn't until later in life that she learned better tools to cope with the stresses of life.

She is Sgt. 1st Class Carmela Brown-Nelson and was deployed in support of the Operation Iraqi Freedom for six months and the Operation New Dawn for 14 months.

"When I was deployed, I remained strong and pushed myself through things by maintaining a positive outlook on the situation I was in and I always thought of my family. I knew whatever I did was all because of them," Brown-Nelson said.

Overcoming challenges, adapting to change, and learning to recover and grow from setbacks has become a part of Brown-Nelsons daily life. She is defined as someone who is resilient.

Brown-Nelson was born and raised in Hinesville, Georgia. She received another associate's degree in Accounting before her deployment and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a human resources concentration after the deployment.

After returning home from deployment, Brown-Nelson went to Rock Island, Illinois. Two years later, she became part of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command as a military evaluator for the Army Evaluation Center.

Brown-Nelson continues to keep herself ready to face whatever comes her way by staying active in sports with her family and signing up for fun runs including the Zombie Run and the Savage Race.

Another thing to keep Brown-Nelson ready for anything that might come her way was to become part of the Master Resiliency Training, in support of the ATEC's Ready and Resilient Campaign, also known as R2C.

ATEC's R2C program is defined as being able to face and cope with adversity, adapt to change, recover, learn and grow from temporary setbacks. This is also known as resilient.

"Initially, I was not interested in being a resiliency trainer," Brown-Nelson said. "But then I went to the first class and it completely changed my mind and soon after, I signed up to be a trainer."

According to the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Program, also known as CSF2, MRT is designed to build resilience and enhance performance of the Army Family including soldiers, their families and civilians. MRT provides hands-on training and self-development tools to better perform in stressful situations and to also, thrive in life.

"Knowing what I know now about being resilient, it could have definitely helped when I was deployed, especially when dealing with Soldiers who didn't have an outlet and the only way for them to react was to do things wrong and get into trouble," Brown-Nelson said.

ATEC's resiliency training is held once a month, having each month focus on a different skill. Some of those skills are resiliency, goal setting, hunting the good stuff, energy management, avoid thinking traps, detecting icebergs, problem solving, put it in perspective, mental games, real time resilience, character strengths, assertive communication and effective praise.

"Each class is different and the best thing about it is the feedback they provide by the end of the class," Brown-Nelson said. "It's important that the audience learns something so they can take the skill back with them and use it on a daily basis."

Master Sgt. Linwood Parker, operations noncommissioned officer, is also one of ATEC's resiliency trainers.

"Sgt. 1st Class Brown-Nelson developed the concept of how training is conducted at ATEC. She serves as the CSF2 lead for AEC and designed the training plan and entire schedules for both Fiscal Year 2014 and 15. Bottom line, she is the MRT leader," Parker said.

Serving as a resiliency trainer has helped Brown-Nelson in her personal and professional life by understanding others and addressing situations differently.

"Resiliency is something we can all benefit from, whether you're in a uniform or wearing civilian attire. The great thing about this training is that it addresses life skills that support a healthy lifestyle. Civilians and Soldiers alike can benefit from the skills covered during these sessions," Parker said.

To learn more about ATEC's Ready and Resilient Campaign, visit http://www.atec.army.mil/r2c. To learn more about the Army's Ready and Resilient Campaign, visit www.army.mil/readyandresilient.

Related Links:

U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command

Army Evaluation Center

ATEC's Ready and Resiliency Page

Army Ready and Resilient Campaign