Fort Sill, Oklahoma (Jan. 17, 2020) -- Post leaders formally opened the Graham Performance Enhancement Center (GPEC) Jan. 15, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Integrating wellness resources, the center and its staff enhances cognitive and physical performance to aid in the achievement of individual or unit health goals, build readiness, and improve the health of the Fort Sill community.
The center consists of a ready and resilient (R2) performance center and the Army Wellness Center -- both serve Soldiers, Department of Army civilians, retirees and their family members; and pregnancy/postpartum physical training and a by-reservation fitness center, which cater to Soldiers.
Col. Anthony Lugo, Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill chief of staff, reminded all of the building's namesake -- Maj. Gen. Mark Graham and his wife Carol. The couple lost their two sons: 2nd Lt. Jeff Graham to an IED attack in Iraq in 2004, and Kevin to suicide in June 2003, while he was studying to become an Army doctor. The Grahams have advocated on behalf of Soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury while encouraging suicide awareness and prevention efforts.
"We realize today that mental health is but one aspect in taking care of our Army, our Soldiers, and their families," said Lugo, who added mental and physical fitness are both required to win our nation's wars. "To do this we pulled together some incredible professionals and services to create a world-class performance center."
The colonel compared the facility to those that serve Special Operations forces and professional sports teams.
"The Army is committed to making holistic health and fitness a priority," he said.
Fort Sill Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Russ Blackwell said in his four months here he's been pleased to learn of and make use of GPEC programs.
"This is a major step in the right direction toward getting after holistic health and fitness," he said. "For the first time in my life and my career someone is available to educate me, and that's enabled me to get in some of the best shape of my life."
Mayra Basinger, the pregnancy/postpartum physical training (P3T) program manager, has served in the position for about a year. Her experience includes time in the Department of Human Performance at Fort Bliss, Texas, where she led Soldiers in mission essential and functional fitness. She also has a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and holds credentials in functional fitness, personal training, group fitness instruction, and total resistance exercises.
P3T offers a standardized and mandatory program for women Soldiers. Basinger said the pregnancy component includes a course orientation and fitness and education classes. The postpartum portion has fitness classes weekly except the end of the month when an education class is offered.
"My job, also as an education coordinator, is to draw from local resources and have volunteers come in and talk about pregnancy, postpartum depression, and other topics of interest," said Basinger. "This lets Soldiers know there are other resources in addition to those provided by Reynolds Army Health Clinic."
Lisa Johnson, community ready and resilient integrator, said the wellness center is a great starting point for people to begin reaching for their health-related goals. But, if this isn't enough or if they lose confidence or have some other mental block hampering their efforts, a visit to the performance enhancement center can help reprogram the mind for success. She said the R2 performance enhancement team consists of six experts with sports psychology or similar backgrounds.
Katie Scott, a Master Resilience Training trainer (MRT) in the R2 performance center, said they offer MRT training to select Soldiers who in turn train others they lead in 14 resilience skills, such as energy management, assertive communications, and developing overall resilience in life and relationships.
"It also comes from the Army's recognition to teach Soldiers proactive coping techniques," said Michelle Smith, R2 Performance Center manager.
Instead of reacting to Soldiers who went through a bad situation these techniques can help Soldiers avoid those situations.
The R2 staff also teaches performance psychology. Shane Phillips another of the performance center's MRT trainers said this type of psychology is the same material professional sports teams use to develop their players.
"Now the Army is doing that to get their tactical athletes top notch. They offer amazing physical and tactical training, and we cover the mental side. You merge the two to create a complete performer," he said.
The Graham Performance Enhancement Center is in Building 2934 Marcy Road and is open Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Program managers can also adjust hours to accommodate unit physical training hours. All wellness center services are offered by appointment. Civilians and family members should also call for appointments to the performance enhancement center.
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