SAN ANTONIO (May 23, 2017) -- During the past decade, more than 225,000 troops have participated in Warrior Adventure Quest, an Army Outdoor Recreation program that provides Soldiers with high-adventure activities that boost resilience and support readiness.
"That's the latest number was have as of the end of fiscal year 2016, and we anticipate an additional 30,000 in fiscal year 2017," said John O'Sullivan, who has managed the program since its inception in 2008. "And those numbers are based only on Soldiers who participate in Warrior Adventure Quest and complete a survey afterward."
Originally designed to introduce recently redeployed Soldiers to adrenaline-pumping activities as alternatives to potentially destructive behaviors, the program now caters to troops in training, as well, making it beneficial for those preparing for and returning from deployment.
Outdoor adventure programs can serve as an enabler during the training cycle. Activities such as paintball, geo-cashing, mountain biking, climbing, and paddling allow Soldiers to sharpen outdoor skills that will assist them with their mission essential tasks and provide alternatives to high risk behaviors during the Soldiers' off duty time.
Statistical data of participants suggest positive associations: a reduced number of accidents and less behavioral incidences occurred with Soldiers who participated in the program. According to Army Combat Readiness and Safety Center statistics, WAQ participants were involved in an average of 42 percent fewer off-duty accidents and 52 percent fewer behavioral incidences than the general population of the Army in 2010-11.
Warrior Adventure Quest, or WAQ, combines events such as mountaineering, snowmobiling and whitewater rafting -- to name a few -- with resilience and readiness training, complete with a leader-led after action debrief, or L-LAAD, developed by Army medical professionals.
The Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, or FMWR, section of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command collaborated with the Army Medical Department, or AMEDD, in 2008 to create Warrior Adventure Quest, now available at about 40 Army Outdoor Recreation locations around the world.
"The program has been around for nine years," Warrior Adventure Quest program manager John O'Sullivan told more than 80 Army FMWR Outdoor Recreation professionals in San Antonio for a weeklong training session in early May. "Outdoor Recreation will continue to grow and further refine the Warrior Adventure Quest program in support of the Army readiness cycle."
WAQ supports rugged professionals who expect tough conditions and difficult missions in austere environments. High-adventure activities like challenge courses, rock climbing, skiing, wakeboarding, and zip lines -- to name a few more -- are synched with resilience training that enhances unit readiness by building unit cohesion. A ready Army consists of Soldiers experienced, trained and prepared to win in a complex world.
Warrior Adventure Quest mitigates the negative impact of high-risk behaviors common among Soldiers during redeployment, usually within 90 days of return from combat. Soldiers are trained to react a certain way during periods of high adrenaline. If a particular adrenaline-filled event is frequently experienced, the reaction becomes second nature and is harder to control when Soldiers return home, particularly from long deployments to areas of conflict.
Soldiers can have increased stress responses at each stage of their deployment, with peak responses usually experienced during the employment phase of a deployment. The peak also can occur prior to combat engagement for support units focused on troop and equipment movement logistics. Those adrenaline responses sometimes negatively impact Soldiers who are unable to readjust to home life after deployment. Their feelings can run the gamut -- from numbness to invincibility to inevitability -- and lead to risky, destructive behaviors like driving while intoxicated, accidents, marital and relationship issues, and violent acts toward themselves and others.
Everyone is changed by their deployment experience and some transition more easily than others, but the goals of Warrior Adventure Quest and many behavioral health programs are to help Soldiers find a safer new level of normal, and bring that level down from the peak response as much as possible.
"I would like to push the WAQ program out to units -- make it more available for them to take this opportunity," said Hiroshige Ninomiya, an Outdoor Recreation assistant program manager at U.S. Army Garrison Japan. "No, it isn't a free recreation activity, but a way to mitigate dangerous activities while giving the Soldier a way to experience safe, high-adventure activities. I also want to emphasize vertical/horizontal bonding into my work team -- build up team cohesion so we can increase morale in our workforce and better serve customers."
"My garrison does not have Warrior Adventure Quest yet, however, the purpose guiding the Warrior Adventure Quest is the reason I began guiding and programming for the armed forces, and why I take pride in my career," said Mati Paroulo, an Outdoor Recreation adventure programmer at Presidio of Monterey, California. "It further illustrates the commitment of the Army to provide for the morale, welfare and well-being of its Soldiers as individuals and part of a larger mission."
Warrior Adventure Quest consists of five sections, which O'Sullivan thoroughly explained during the opening morning of Outdoor Recreation training. Phases I and II encompass leader training, which facilitates horizontal and vertical bonding, and builds esprit de corps and unit cohesion. Participants learn and hone the L-LAAD skills and techniques. They also learn how to assist with identifying Soldiers who may require more intervention.
Phase III is Soldier training presented in an interactive online presentation that covers topics like bonding, cohesion, esprit de corps, post-traumatic growth and the combat operational stress control model. It also provides resiliency and WAQ overviews.
Phase IV is the actual high-adventure activity, focused on the platoon level. Both team-building and individual activities teach lifelong skills that enhance Soldier quality of life by demonstrating confidence, trust and competence among team members. It gives leaders a different look at their formation and fosters horizontal and vertical bonding, all of which help build esprit de corps and strengthen unit cohesion.
Phase V covers the L-LAAD techniques, which leverage trained unit assets to facilitate debriefings. Participants are shown how individual resilience and unit resilience work hand in hand, and they review unit resiliency fundamentals. They can exhibit skills learned earlier in WAQ by helping identify Soldiers who may require intervention beyond the program.
"We want to not only maintain but build up the Warrior Adventure Quest program," O'Sullivan told the Outdoor Recreation professionals who deliver the program. "Garrison Commanders should be supportive and Command Sergeants Major should be your voice of the program."
Outdoor Recreation professionals from around the Army shared their Warrior Adventure Quest success stories and bounced ideas off each other throughout the week.
"I learned a great deal about the Warrior Adventure Quest," concluded Jodee Rincon, a recreation assistant at Fort Bliss, Texas. "But more so, I learned that it is pertinent we try our hardest as Outdoor Recreation Warrior Adventure Quest facilitators to expose this program to its full potential. Not only in rendering the program within our garrison but instilling in every Soldier how truly invaluable and beneficial WAQ is to our U.S. Army."
SIDEBAR:
About 80 Army Outdoor Recreation professionals participated May 3 in an Urban Adventure Quest around San Antonio.
Somewhat like a scavenger hunt, five-person teams, led by a designated Quiz Master, followed clues and solved 18 challenges via wireless devices to get from point to point around the city. Googling was allowed, as was seeking assistance from locals.
"Outdoor adventure activities are not limited to wilderness environments," said John O'Sullivan, an Outdoor Recreation manager at U.S. Army Installation Management Command Headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The teams had nearly three hours to complete the quest, which was followed by a leader-led after action debrief, or L-LAAD.
"This was a great activity," said Darryle Jones, chief of community recreation at Fort Rucker, Alabama. "I have been to a number of trainings in San Antonio and, just my opinion, the Urban Adventure Quest was the best portion of this training. It can be tailored to any and all installation Outdoor Recreation programs."
The two-mile quest started at The Emily Morgan Hotel and ended at the intersection of Houston and Navarro Streets.
"It was a great new way to see a location," said Bill Cooney, an outdoor recreation programmer at Fort Stewart, Georgia. "They have one set up in Savannah, Georgia, and I am going to check it out first and offer it as an outdoor recreation activity. It was a very fun time seeing how everyone had fun doing the event."
Although Urban Adventure Quest resembled Army Outdoor Recreation's Warrior Adventure Quest in name only, several folks in town for training considered it their highlight of the week.
"The adventure was so well put together," said Megan Royer, an outdoor recreation business manager at Fort Rucker, Alabama. "It was extremely challenging and incorporated so much of San Antonio's history. Also, great exercise!"
"It was absolute madness to the point where I would have done it all over again," added Jodee Rincon, a recreation assistant at Fort Bliss, Texas. "Highly recommend this super exciting and enjoyable activity to any and every one!"
Even the skeptics came to appreciate adventure questing on this hot, muggy afternoon on the San Antonio River Walk.
"I thought I would hate it but, turns out I loved it," said Paul Freeman, a supervisory recreation assistant at Fort Drum, New York. "Very good activity to promote interaction with other attendees. Well planned and very well executed. Lots of fun!"
UAQ took the training session outdoors, exhibited The Alamo City in a unique way, allowed participants to get to know each other better in a setting that required teamwork, and allowed them to practice the L-LAAD.
"Urban Adventure Quest was a great program to get us out of the classroom and introduce us to peers we had not yet had the chance to meet," said Ally Keene, a recreation specialist at U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii. "UAQ introduced me to a new program that we could run at our home base and gave me the chance to practice L-LAADs in a real-life situation. UAQ was a great team-builder and dynamic way to analyze our skills in a fast-paced team environment outside of our typical routine."
INFO BOX:
Horizontal bonding is the strong personal trust, loyalty, and cohesiveness that develops among peers in a small military unit -- the bond between Soldiers. Vertical bonding is the personal trust, loyalty, and cohesiveness that develop between leaders and their subordinates -- the bond between Soldiers and leaders.
Esprit de corps is a feeling of identification and membership in the larger, enduring unit, its history and its intent. This may include the unit -- battalion, brigade combat team, regiment, or division -- or the branch -- such as infantry, artillery, or military police -- and include pride in the Army. This is the bond between Soldiers and their units.
Unit cohesion is the binding force that blends the previous three concepts and keeps Soldiers together and performing the mission in spite of danger and adversity. Cohesion is a result of Soldiers knowing and trusting both their peers and leaders while understanding their dependency on one another. It is achieved through personal bonding and a strong sense of responsibility toward the unit and its members. The ultimate adaptive stress reactions are acts of extreme courage and almost unbelievable strength. They may even involve deliberate heroism resulting in the ultimate self-sacrifice.
Related Links:
Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation
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