FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Oct. 26, 2026) -- Soldiers with the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI) participated in an interactive, “choose-your-own-adventure” style symposium Oct. 23, hosted by 2nd MBCT Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) staff at the Multipurpose Auditorium at Fort Drum.
The H2F Day event provided brigade Soldiers a selection of presentations to choose from – ranging from high-performance nutrition and sleep strategies to the science of recovery and the application of Sports Vision Training to improve marksmanship.
Outdoor sessions highlighted Strongman training, active-versus-passive recovery techniques, and sprint drills for tactical athletes.
Chaplain (Capt.) Jonathan Gonzalez opened the symposium at the Multipurpose Auditorium with a presentation on spiritual readiness, positing that Soldiers require more than physical strength to achieve mission success.
He emphasized that purpose, identity, values and belonging help sustain Soldiers through personal challenges that fitness scores and performance evaluations cannot measure.
“We assume that because someone is performing well, then they must be doing well,” Gonzalez said. “Your performance matters, but your worth as a human being cannot be reduced to your performance.”
Gonzalez urged the audience to recognize subtle behavioral shifts in their peers, such as withdrawal and expressions of hopelessness. Rather than overlooking those signs or focusing only on duty performance, he encouraged them to proactively connect teammates with available resources.
Gonzalez also encouraged Soldiers to strengthen readiness through small, consistent actions, such as making time for prayer or reflection, investing in friendships, family relationships, and community involvement, and seeking support early before problems become overwhelming.
Outside the 2MBCT H2F facility, Coach Zach Mahl demonstrated how Soldiers can integrate foundational Strongman movements into their physical training. This discipline combines strength, explosive power and conditioning where athletes move heavy objects like Atlas stones, metal frames and sandbags.
“I think this is a great way for Soldiers to unlock possibilities in their training that they never thought of before,” he said. “When they deploy, there might not always be the nicest bells and whistles for them to train with. They may have to train with what they’ve got, and it might literally be just a heavy rock.”
Collin Recore, Chris Sanders and Sgt. Mechella Brantley rotated teams of Soldiers through a short, high-intensity workout followed by an active recovery session that included stretching and mobility routines.
“We wanted them to feel the effects of what recovery does to your body after becoming fatigued,” Recore said. “The idea is that passive recovery is like the ‘easy button,’ where you go to the massage chair or work a massage gun on your legs. But the difference in doing active recovery at the end of the workout is going to be more beneficial and longer lasting, and we wanted to demonstrate that today.”
Recore said he wanted to dispel the notion that a recovery routine is time wasted or detracts from the overall training plan.
“There’s value to doing this after a PT session or returning from a field exercise when service members are feeling intense physical fatigue,” he said. “Implementing recovery time is relatively low threat, and it doesn’t take a whole lot of time. In fact, it allows service members to recover faster and get back into the fight sooner.”
Patrick Sandora, 2nd MBCT H2F program director, said H2F Day was designed for 2MBCT Soldiers to learn more about optimizing health and long-term readiness by focusing on the topics that matter most to them.
Sandora said they were already hosting multiple leadership professional development (LPD) sessions at the company and battalion level, when the request came from senior leaders if they could organize a brigade-wide event.
“So this is just taking it to the next level, and in a symposium-like fashion where Soldiers can pick what they want to learn more about while still providing them with a lot of other resources in a centralized location,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for Soldiers to hear from our experts within the brigade talking about how to maximize performance.”
In between sessions, attendees could speak with H2F staff members and representatives from other support organizations on post, including the Armed Forces Wellness Center, Ready and Resilient Program, Fort Drum FMWR Sports, Fitness and Aquatics, and Suicide Prevention Program.
Sgt. Xavier Keller, with G Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, said he became interested in H2F because of the injuries he sustained throughout his career and his desire to prevent new ones.
“This was something new to me, for sure,” he said. “I’ve never really had the knowledge that comes with being healthy overall, especially while serving in the military. Knowing the numbers and science behind it all – it does help in recovery. What I’ve been learning here, and in their classes, it’s been helpful for me.”
Keller said that comprehensive H2F teams were not available at his previous duty station. Having an embedded performance team and facility at the brigade has made a positive impact on Keller.
“It has made me aware of certain things that I can do for my health and to maintain my physical fitness level while avoiding further injuries,” he said.
Brandon Lee, 2MBCT registered dietitian, led a presentation on how top performers approach nutrition – covering topics from hydration and supplements to avoiding the pitfalls of fads and ineffective diets. As the event organizer, Lee said that sustained outreach remains critical to the H2F performance team’s mission.
“We want Soldiers to be familiar with who we are, familiar with our profession, and the capabilities of H2F,” he said. “Really, half of today’s purpose is familiarization, so they become more comfortable with going to the performance professionals. The presentations were importance so we can educate Soldiers on the proper performance principles, but speaking with them individually before and after the presentations is really how we can make those meaningful connections.”
For the Soldiers attending the H2F Day, Sandora said the goal was not to achieve short-term results.
“This is not about educating for the here and now, but also for life after the Army,” he said. “We want Soldiers to maximize performance capabilities while they are here but, overall, the end goal is for them to have a better understanding on how to maximize their lifespan.”
Following each presentation, attendees had the opportunity to provide feedback and rate the presenters.
“We have a little friendly competition to see who had the best presentation and give them their due recognition,” Lee said. “I think it’s important for any team to reward those who go above and beyond the call of duty, and that’s what we’re doing here as a form of positive reinforcement. This H2F Day was only accomplished because of the team. Everyone prepared and executed their sessions independently, and when you get a team rowing in the same direction, you can pretty much conquer anything.”
Photos from the 2MBCT H2F Day are available at www.flickr.com/photos/drum10thmountain/albums/72177720336329602.
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