The Army has changed how it approaches fitness and now embraces a method that includes physical aspects, as well as nutrition, mental health, sleep, and spirituality.
“For so long, the Army has been focused on physical readiness, and rightfully so,” said Maj. Ryan Kaizer, HHD First Army commander, who oversees the unit’s Holistic Health and Fitness program. “But we have come to realize that there are other attributes to readiness that were not being addressed. H2F is doing that.”
With nutrition, for example, Kaizer noted that, “While we can’t control what people eat, we can provide assessments, education, and training.”
H2F centers on the idea that individuals and units are not shaped by cookie cutters, but come with their own challenges, goals, and missions. One of its overarching goals is to reduce illness, injury, and disease. Its Lines of Effort include readiness for Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians, and families.
One addition unique to First Army is martial arts, which fits in squarely with H2F since it incorporates mental, physical, and spiritual aspects. The idea was the brainchild of Dr. Sejin “Jason” Seol, a First Army civilian and a third-generation martial arts expert. Seol serves as president of the World Chang Moo Do Federation – an organization founded by his grandfather.
“The shortfall for the physical domain was that it was reliant on ACFT prep, which is the focus for Soldiers, but how do we approach the other Lines of Effort,” Kaizer said. “Dr. Seol came to me about incorporating a martial arts program, and I said, ‘absolutely.’”
Seol explained that the martial arts portion of H2F is fundamental and foundational: “I am not grooming my students to me MMA fighters. This is to help them build confidence, become healthier, and more disciplined.”
The martial arts portion goes through three phrases: Grappling, striking, and hand-to-hand competition. About a dozen Soldiers are involved in First Army H2F martial arts, and seven students have graduated from Phase One testing, which focuses on grappling.
It goes beyond athleticism and agility, according to Seol: “We’re not just teaching them techniques, we also teach the philosophy behind it.”
As the program continues to expand, the addition of other components is likely.
“H2F is still very much growing and learning. We started with it being only for Soldiers, then we grew it to DA civilians, and have now expanded it to Rock Island Arsenal as a whole,” Kaizer said. He added that the First Army program is also looking to add another pillar focusing on dependents and run it in conjunction with the First Army Soldier and Family Readiness Group.
Another planned initiative is assigning Soldiers a wearable device to enable them to track their fitness and biometrics. Beyond the benefit to the Soldiers, this will enable leaders to better assess the health of the formation.
H2F has been running in its current state at First Army for about one and a half years “This is one of Lt. Gen. Landes’ top priorities,” Kaizer said. “Not just for the headquarters but across all of First Army.”
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