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STAND-TO! Edition: Friday, February 4, 2011

Today's Focus:

Millionth Soldier takes the Global Assessment Tool

SENIOR LEADERS ARE SAYING

"Clearly, a lot of this hinges on the ability of Afghan forces to do more as we do progressively less. We're not just going to say: ‘Tag, you're it; we're out of here.’ We're going [to] thin out, not just hand off. We'll stay, we'll support.”

- Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior commander of U.S. and coalition forces, in a PBS “Newshour” interview from the Afghan capital of Kabul , aired Feb. 2, 2011, confirming that President Obama's directive for U.S. troops to transition out of Afghanistan is on track but also cautioning that a sudden exodus will not happen.

Petraeus discusses troop transition options

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"Geotagging has been around for a while, so have smart phones and location-based social networking platforms. So the threat has always been there … They wouldn't post a sign with sensitive information on their front lawn, so they need to look at the Internet in the same way."

-Staff Sgt. Dale Sweetnam, noncommissioned officer in charge of the U.S. Army's Online and Social Media Division, cautioning the Soldiers not to tag their uploaded photos with a location as they are essentially giving away vital information and are putting their comrades at risk.

Mapping your life: Embedded data in photos could tip off criminals

TODAY'S FOCUS

Millionth Soldier takes the Global Assessment Tool

What is it?

The Army reached a major milestone last week when the millionth Soldier took the "Global Assessment Tool" (GAT), an online survey which serves as an entry point for a Soldier's individual journey to maximizing their potential. The GAT is one of the 4 pillars of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program.

What has the Army done?

This effort began in 2008 under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Rhonda L. Cornum. CSF is a holistic program designed to give all members of the Army community the knowledge, thinking skills, and behaviors that will optimize the ability and likelihood to "thrive" in their lives, as well as their ability to successfully cope with life's challenges and adversity.

Why is this important to the Army?

CSF is about enhancing the readiness and quality of life of the force. This program represents the Army's investment in the readiness of the force and the quality of life of our Soldiers, family members, and Army civilians, to provide Soldiers critical skills they can use to strengthen themselves, their families, and their fellow Soldiers.

The CSF program is not medical or psychological treatment. The program focuses on the ninety plus percent of the force that is fundamentally "well", but at widely varying levels of strength in social, emotional, spiritual, family and physical fitness. With this in mind, CSF's maximal benefit will be realized when incorporated early, and development of fitness is continuous.

The Army began requiring Soldiers to complete the Global Assessment Tool survey annually in October 2009. The GAT is a 105-question survey that assesses a Soldier in emotional, social, spiritual and family fitness. The GAT is not a pass or fail test, rather it is a tool for individual Soldiers to assess their overall fitness in the four dimensions. After taking the survey, Soldiers are offered an array of self-guided online training modules that can help them strengthen themselves in those four areas.

Individual feedback is provided to Soldiers after taking the GAT and includes tailored language that offers text based explanations of their scores. While the GAT is mandatory for Soldiers, individual scores are known only to the Soldier, not his commander. Family members of Soldiers and DA civilians may also take the GAT and accompanying training modules on a voluntary basis.

What is planned for the future?

Future versions of the GAT are under development and will provide more complete feedback to the user. This will include a more detailed breakdown of specific strengths within the four dimensions and the ability to compare your current scores with those from your previous GAT completions.

Resources:

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness

STAND-TO! - Global Assessment Tool, December 8, 2009

STAND-TO! NEWS

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