Resiliency training prepares Soldiers for stress

By Chaplain (Maj.) Tom Bowers, 12th CABMay 19, 2010

Resiliency training prepares Soldiers for stress
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Chaplain (Maj.) Tom Bowers, who calls parts of Michigan home among other places, emphasizes the benefits of financial planning and discipline to the group of more than 20 Soldiers from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade and Task Force 12 at the Conting... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Resiliency training prepares Soldiers for stress
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers from throughout the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade's Task Force 12 on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, listen intently to one of the more humorous videos used as training aids during the resiliency training given May 5, 2010, at the COB... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

"Griffin Strong," a motto of the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, was recently defined for the brigade's Soldiers deployed to Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq.

The ability to do 100 pushups in two minutes, to run two miles in less than a set time, to bench-press a certain amount: all of these are great things, but none of them capture the meaning of the phrase "Griffin Strong".

Sixty-eight Soldiers recently learned that "Griffin Strong" applies to Soldiers and family members of the 12th CAB and the brigade's Task Force 12 who are dealing with life, relationship and deployment stresses. The Griffin Strong Soldiers and Families program is designed to make Soldiers and their family members even stronger.

The Griffin Strong Soldiers and Families program is 12th CAB's "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness" program. CSF is based on a program developed at the University of Pennsylvania, was instituted Army-wide in October 2009 and started in the brigade May 1, 2010.

Part of Griffin Strong Soldiers and Families involves teaching Soldiers and their family members skills that enable them to be more resilient.

When someone is resilient, they bend under pressure but do not break. Showing Soldiers different avenues of success in areas like social and financial health and anger and stress management reinforces their ability to be more resilient when the inevitable pressures come.

"I have had training similar to this before but it was a good reminder of the things to do to help a Soldier socially and financially," said Spc. Jerry Johnson, a Miami, Fla., native and aircraft power train maintainer with Company B, 412th Aviation Support Battalion, TF 12.

Many other Soldiers agreed with Johnson, who has already put many of the practices into action and has proof of the positive results, that the resiliency training was worth the investment of time and effort.

Task Force 12 will offer the same classes each month, eight different times, to reach as many Soldiers as possible. In the future, training will be offered to families as well.

Related Links:

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