FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Sept. 19, 2023) -- No one makes the “Climb to Glory” alone at Fort Drum, and any alpinist or mountaineer will attest to the fellowship inherent in reaching that peak.
With connectedness and teambuilding being integral to 10th Mountain Division’s Alpine culture, Soldiers and spouses new to Fort Drum are being introduced to that concept during the Keys to Connection program.
It begins with an icebreaker where attendees get to know one another, but then it quickly delves into some serious material for roundtable discussions. For starters, during a recent session Chaplain (Capt.) Delbert Young had the group think about their purpose in life.
One Soldier said he felt his purpose was setting a good example for the next generation, and that includes his one-month-old son. Another Soldier said he never had the time to think about his purpose in life because life simply gets in the way. Or, as he put it, “adulting” takes too much time.
Sgt. Raeann Fluker said she had no problem contributing to the group discussion.
“Ever since I was 12, I felt like I knew my purpose in life,” she said. “I’m the oldest out of all my siblings, and so I was always guiding them, teaching them, and mentoring them whether I realized it or not. And that definitely shaped my opinion about myself and what I felt like I was here to do.”
She said that teaching is her calling, and it is something she strives to do every day in her life – to share her knowledge with others.
“Even when I was new to the military, I felt like you’re always teaching somebody something, or you’re learning something that you get to teach to someone else,” Fluker said.
During a Keys to Connection session, newcomers not only discuss what it means to live a purposeful life but they also think about personal goals, and identifying and overcoming obstacles along the way.
Chaplain (Maj.) Jonathan Anderson, deputy division chaplain, said the program was developed by the 10th Mountain Division Chaplain Section and introduced to in-processing Soldiers last November. There is a separate session for single Soldiers and one for married Soldiers and their spouses.
“We talk about making connections and having healthy relationships with both groups, but we also recognize that single Soldiers have different needs than married Soldiers,” Anderson said. “In many cases, when single Soldiers get here, they may not know anybody, and they may have almost no connections, whereas couples who arrive at Fort Drum at least have one another.”
Anderson said Keys to Connection can adapt to the needs of Fort Drum Soldiers and families, and some changes have been made to the content based on feedback and other factors.
“We still work within that initial framework that the program was developed under, but we’ve continued to refine it,” he said.
Anderson also is interested in incorporating the Alpine culture and lexicon into Keys to Connection. He particularly likes the “fellowship of the rope” principle, which Christian Beckwith talks about in the “90 Pound Rucksack” podcast about the 10th Mountain Division.
Fellowship of the rope embodies the imagery of climbers working together, relying on one another to reach the summit. In this effort, the rope links climbers together. If one person slips, the rope has the potential of taking the whole group down. But through training and teambuilding, mountaineers can support one another on their “Climb to Glory.”
“If you think about it, that’s honestly what we’re trying to encourage and develop here,” Anderson said. “We’re all making that climb together, and we can only do that by building those relationships and making connections with one another.”
After the Keys to Connection session concludes, attendees visit a resource fair featuring dozens of representatives from Fort Drum and local support agencies.
“If a Soldier brings up an issue they are having during the table discussion, more than likely there is someone at the resource fair they can talk to about that,” Anderson said.
Chris Ramie, Fort Drum Armed Forces Wellness Center supervisory health educator, said the resource fair is a welcome change from talking to an auditorium of Soldiers during an in-processing briefing.
“This is so much better for talking one-on-one with Soldiers about what they need and seeing how we can help them,” he said. “I think other agencies are also finding this more impactful, just being able to interact at this level.”
A few months ago, chaplains began asking attendees to fill out a survey about their experience with Keys to Connection. Young said most responses came back positive, and people are finding the program helpful.
“We’ve found the part they like the most are the table discussions,” he said. “And they like discussing purpose. It’s a pretty big question to ask of someone, and people are sometimes hesitant to speak. But once you get them over that barrier, it’s like breaking a dam and people want to discuss this with each other. What we’re seeing is that people almost never have a setting or an opportunity to talk about these things.”
During roundtable discussions, either a chaplain, religious affairs noncommissioned officer or a military and family life counselor facilitates the dialogue among attendees.
“We are providing the environment and setting for Soldiers to have these conversations because these are important things to talk about,” Young said. “It really gets people thinking, and I’m glad they have this opportunity to do so.”
Soldiers and family members leave the session with a pocket resource guide, but they also are encouraged to familiarize themselves with Mountain CARES (Critical Assistance with Resources for Environmental Stressors), a handy resource webpage to help people navigate stressful situations.
For more information, visit https://home.army.mil/drum/my-fort/all-services/CARES.
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