PAKTIA PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- Spartan Soldiers and members of the 98th Combat Stress Control Detachment held a Comprehensive Soldier Health Expo last weekend at the main gym on Forward Operating Base Lightning in an effort to bring attention to the U.S. Army?'s Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program (CSF2).
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), kicked off the two-day event with demonstrations of different martial arts, which included jujitsu, karate, boxing and Krav Maga, an Israeli hand-to-hand combat system. After the demonstrations, Soldiers walked from station to station to learn more about holistic approaches to health.
The Army's CSF2 program is based on the premise that in addition to the physical realm, true fitness is also based on the "pillars" of emotional, spiritual, social and family health. Finding a way to communicate the importance of these pillars proved to be organizers' top priority, according to Maj. Nathan Friedline, 3rd BCT's surgeon.
"I exercise my body every day, but how often do I exercise my mind, or ensure I have emotional stability" Friedline proposed. "I don?'t think we place enough emphasis on those things as a culture."
Martial arts have many aspects in common with the CSF2 program. Karate and jujitsu emphasize family and emotional control. Similarities also exist between karate's Bushido Code and the Army Values, showing the importance of maintaining control of one's mental and physical well-being. The expo was aimed at conveying such information in entertaining ways.
"We wanted to bring this to life in a fun way," Friedline said. "A lot of military personnel really like martial arts and mixed martial arts -- that kind of stuff. So we wanted to use that to bring everybody around to thinking about holistic health, all of the five different pillars, while trying to keep their interest by making it fun."
Friedline also explained good health practices, such as proper diet, water intake and how to ensure one can get a good night?'s sleep. He told everyone they should drink about eight 16-ounce bottles of water a day in their current arid, high-elevation environment.
Holding a black belt in karate since his teen years, Sgt. Diego Mesias, noncommissioned officer in charge of the 98th Combat Stress Control Detachment, explained and then demonstrated basic karate techniques for the Soldiers.
Before organizing the event, he said his unit had conducted a survey with the help of Maj. Chadwick Milligan to see what kind of learning platform the Soldiers would prefer.
"They wanted more sports and martial arts, which made sense because they're Soldiers -- they're warriors," he said.
Everyone present had an opportunity to learn something, and even those who have been around a bit, took something away from the expo.
"I needed something cool to add to my toolbox, to help both me and my sons, and I got it," said Staff Sgt. Charles Thigpen, a network operations noncommissioned officer with 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
While the event was well received by the Soldiers, Friedline wanted to ensure the real purpose of the expo remained clear.
"If you look at the grand masters of the different martial arts, they have emotional stability, they have self-control, and they place their families ahead of them," he said. "They also have a spiritual depth about them. So I think they make good role models."
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