The modern battlefield is rapidly evolving, and the Army is transforming the way it prepares its Warfighters to meet those demands. Through the world’s largest human optimization project, the Holistic Health and Fitness System, the Army is investing in the Department’s most critical asset: the American Soldier, to ensure they’re the most ready and lethal force prepared to dominate whenever called.
“If we are going to ask our Soldiers to be the most lethal fighting force on the planet then we must invest in them”, said the 40th Vice Chief of the Army, and acting Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Christopher LaNeve. “That’s what H2F is all about, it’s the cornerstone of being physically fit, mentally tough, and prepared to defeat any adversary in any environment”.
Maj. Gen. Colin Tuley, commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, and Portfolio Acquisition Executive Ground, opened Day 2 of the Symposium by announcing the transition of H2F Proponency from the U.S. Army Center of Initial Military Training to the Maneuver Center of Excellence.
“H2F is an ideal fit at the Maneuver Center of Excellence. We are bringing the H2F Academy to Fort Benning. We are establishing the Army’s H2F campus at Fort Benning, the Army’s premier training center,” said Tuley. “My role is to ensure our H2F professionals elevate our warfighters and enhance our warfighting capabilities each day”.
As the Army prepares for the future fight it is also undergoing a massive cultural change in the way that our human weapon systems prepare for the holistic rigors of combat. This cultural change places the mental readiness domain as a core competency, and prioritizes it’s impact on the modern battlefield, like how the physical readiness domain has historically been.
Within a Large-Scale Combat Operations, LSCO, environment a defining lesson from ongoing conflicts is the value of cognitive performance. Warfighters must make rapid decisions, devise innovative solutions, and sustain cognitive stamina against near-peer adversaries.
“H2F helps us build the most lethal Army in the world”, said Brig. Gen. Deydre Teyhen, Commanding General, Medical Readiness Command, Pacific and Director, Defense Health Network Indo-Pacific. “Soldier lethality is about our physical supremacy, cognitive ability, resilience, and our ability to dominate the evolving battlefield”.
As the operational environment across the Department of War rapidly evolves, reserve component forces have never been more paramount to operational success. Maj. Gen. Charles Kemper IV, the Deputy Director of the Army National Guard, emphasized the importance that the Army National Guard has placed on holistically preparing their Soldiers on the other 28 days a month when they’re not in uniform.
“The Army has funded a four-state pilot program, which is delivering positive outcomes,” said Maj. Gen. Kemper. “The Director of the Army National Guard is working to expand H2F resourcing to all 50 states and four territories.”
Lt. Gen. Robert “Bob” Harter, the 35th Chief of the U.S. Army Reserve and the 10th Commanding General of U.S. Army Reserve Command, emphasized the advancements that the Army Reserve has had in implementing innovative models of H2F support to increase their individual readiness and lethality that differ from the Active Duty’s model.
“We are looking at H2F the same way we look at combat, when you go, we go,” said Lt. Gen. Harter. “Our purpose is to deliver combat-ready Soldiers and formations at the time of need in support of the Army”.
As the Total Force prepare for a LSCO environment, mental readiness, and resilience, have never been more important. While H2F has proven to return Soldiers from injuries faster, the mental toll that these injuries place on Soldiers is harder to quantify.
The day two keynote speaker, who closed out the Symposium, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Bradley Palm, Technical Director and Senior Warrant Officer for the System Integration Management Office within the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command, discussed how programs like H2F assisted him in returning to the Global War on Terror, GWOT, fight after being injured in an aviation operation.
“The experts within the Tactical Human Optimization Rapid Rehabilitation and Reconditioning (THOR3) program, the predecessor to H2F, helped me fully recover from my crash”, said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Palm. “I was a blind pilot, and these experts helped me recover and return to flying within the world’s premiere rotary wing unit”.
H2F, and programs like it across the Joint Force, are paramount to ensuring the U.S. Army maintains our warfighting mastery and that our Warfighters are ready, modern, and prepared to defeat and destroy those who threaten our homeland, our partners and allies, and our American way of life.
More information about the 2026 H2F Symposium is available here.
Social Sharing