Teens will be the last group on Fort Jackson to be able to undergo resilience training when a team from Fort Bragg comes to post July 8.

The training will include information on budget planning, goal setting and resilience in the face of crises and transitions. Fort Jackson offers such training to Soldiers at all levels, as well as to Spouses. But its trainers have yet to be able to train teens -- security demands have kept them from doing so.

"Everybody gets it," said Col. Milford Beagle, commander of the 193rd Infantry Brigade. "We even have it for the (Basic Combat) trainees. One area we're not teaching is the teens."

Which is what has led Beagle to ask post resiliency trainers: Why not?

Treva Anderson is lead master resilience trainer and performance expert at Fort Jackson's Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Training Center. She and other staff members have submitted the abundant materials the Army requires for those seeking clearance to work with teens and have been waiting for months to hear the results.

"We've been in a pickle for almost a year," said Anderson, who has the training but not the clearance to teach resilience courses for teens.

That's why trainers from the Army's Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) at Fort Bragg will conduct the July 8 course: They have all the requisite clearances.

Commanders on Fort Jackson "recognize that their kids could use some assistance" in building "mental toughness," Anderson said. Several, including Beagle, have asked that such classes be taught on post.

Anderson hopes her own clearance comes by early fall. When it does, she and other members of the training center staff are likely to offer resilience courses to teens at least two or three times yearly -- perhaps quarterly, if demand is high.

That would be good news for Beagle.

"I think it means a lot to the parents" who have worked to teach teens life lessons and wondered whether their children have paid attention, said Beagle, the father of a 20- and 15-year-old. "When somebody else does it, (lessons) stick a lot better."

If teens hear something parents have said and then attend training, "you've got one more layer of confirmation. (They say), 'OK, I've heard it twice. Must be something to it.'"

HOW DO I GET A SEAT AT TEEN RESILIENCE TRAINING?

Teen Resilience Training will be offered 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 8 at Fort Jackson. The course is aimed at helping military teens manage stress, solve problems, stay healthy and remain flexible. Teens 13 to 18 may mail completed forms -- parental consent and Child, Youth and School Services Day Program Registration -- to usarmy.usarc.usacapoc.mbx.familyprograms@mail.mil by July 3. For more information, call the Family Programs Office at Fort Bragg at 910-396-8562.