FORT EUSTIS, Va. (September 3, 2009) -- Don't you love it when Big Army comes out with a program' Now quite recently the Army has developed this program called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness that incorporates resiliency training. For those not familiar with the program, CSF uses five dimensions of strength as its pillars: physical, emotional, social, family, and spiritual to develop resilient Soldiers. Now resiliency is not a new concept for the Army in fact, two of the four ethos echo concern for resiliency, which is incorporated within the Warrior Ethos as part of its core: I will never accept defeat. I will never quit.
Since it seems resiliency is prominent in the Army's mind both consciously and subconsciously, one would ask, "What is it that the Army is guarding itself against'" Connecting the dots, I would have to say helplessness and lack of confidence that breeds fear and apathy.
"What's the intent of the program'" you might ask. In a nut shell, psychologists have determined that an individual builds resiliency over the span of a lifetime just as you would build strength in a physical training program. Now to be quite honest, I was skeptical.
Not at the philosophy, I was pretty-much sold on the concept pitched at a Senior Leader symposium. Rather, I wasn't sure we needed a program to build resiliency for Soldiers. "After all," I thought, "doesn't the promotion system already reward successes based on performance, which in turn builds resiliency'"
That was pretty much my position right up until Super dAYS when three things changed my mind:
1. It rained, which placed a damper on some events
2. The boxing smoker was cancelled at the 11th hour due to a glitch
3. I attended a great sermon at the Regimental Chapel during a small sunrise service.
First, let's take the carnival. For one, the carnival was gearing up and then the rain came and with it, the carnival almost came to a standstill. Almost, but then I noticed something; select parents with their kids in the rain enjoying themselves. that's when I thought of society and the effects of resiliency in an individual's mental composition.
Viewing the family, it seemed to me that there is hope for our society if those kids are any indication of our future. "Wow," I thought, "they are building resiliency in their children either consciously or subconsciously (no matter the weather, make the best of a situation and don't get mired down in helplessness)."
Unfortunately, it seems finding the time to build a resilient mind (as a precursor to enlistment) within the family unit is difficult in this day and age, when you look at the Effects of a two-parent workforce combined with external competing priorities.
Then the Boxing Smoker failed to kick off in the 11th hour. Now, like most people, I was not a happy camper since a lot of hard work had gone into making it happen by a lot of good people. I accept failure to a degree because we learn as much from failure as we do from success, but that doesn't mean I have to like it when it occurs. Remember failure as a kid'
As a kid these days, it's hit or miss on the lessons one learns from it due to the everybody-gets-a-trophy concept. Resiliency is tougher to get at now with sequestered children pursuing game technology. You just don't get the true impact of letting a team down because you dropped the game ball and because you don't, you don't grow resiliency in the same way anymore.
So, it would seem the Army in its wisdom is on the right track, and that's when I started to rethink my position on the need for an additional Army program as I went home that night.
The next day, I attended the sunrise service (by nature I'm not an early riser) because I felt compelled to attend in part because the past week had been filled with trials and tribulations.
While in attendance, I found that the sermon's theme was personal courage and with it the fear of failure; that's when I started to think someone was trying to tell me something. As a reference point, fear alone has probably been responsible for more Medals of Honor than anything else. So, my brain started working - again (hey, give me a break it was early in the morning, after all;) I started to think resiliency. Parents in the rain, Boxing Smokers and something I hadn't thought of in a long time; learned apathy.
Apathy is part of any society, and it takes root in helplessness and fear of failure, which I believe - as I stated earlier - is the enemy the Army is fighting. Apathy and fear of failure equates to mission failure, but it doesn't have to.
Apathy toward mission failure is a chain of events. Say a piece of equipment doesn't work or a key individual is missing. The hand-wringing begins and is soon verbalized in the dreaded "let's cancel" even before the decision-making process is reengaged.
Take heart Soldier because resiliency is a learned skill. Consider resiliency like a muscle that gets stronger with exercise. Over time, that muscle engages when periods of adversity hit and separates those that look on in despair from those that pick themselves up by their bootstrap. As with any skill set, there are skill levels that are engaged whether it be enlisted, midmanager or manager, and the Army's intent is to engage those mentorship skill levels in its growth plan. As my mind wrapped itself around those developing thoughts and the associated skill levels, I grew to appreciate the Army's goal to build resiliency. (So Fort Eustis, in the end we will have another Boxing Smoker. When it occurs, we are going to take a minute or two to discuss CSF to the assembled crowd of onlookers.
In closing, my hat's off to you, Big Army. I might have started out as a questionable executor but have now become a convert to your intent by the time of the next Boxing Smoker, I'm bringing a thousand or so of my closest friends on board as well.
For more information on Comprehensive Soldier Fitness, visit www.army.mil/csf/.
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