FORT STEWART, Ga. - With the Third Infantry Division’s command philosophy of teamwork in mind, the Fort Stewart’s Directorate of Human Resources team earned more than one million President’s Challenge points altogether. An award ceremony recognized DHR President Challenge participants for Bronze and Gold medals at the Soldier Service Center, July 21.
Closely associated with the Civilian Fitness program, the President’s Challenge program is an interactive tool participants use to log their physical activities, earning points as they progress through their fitness goal.
“[The Civilian Fitness program] is a good program and part of it is the [President’s] Fitness Challenge,” said Tom Allmon, director of Human Resources. “We’re going to award some of the [fitness challenge] recipients. The fitness challenge is easy; it is not hard. You get credit for housework; you get credit for mowing the grass.”
Of the other organizations at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield participating in the President’s Challenge program, DHR alone surpasses the other directorates with a collective total of one million six hundred thousand points, Allmon said.
“I’m in the Installation Management Command [President’s Challenge] group, too,” he said. “And IMCOM has 17 million points. That is not very many when you think we, just DHR, have one million six hundred thousand points. We only have 53 participants and they have 1,511 people in the IMCOM group. We should be proud of ourselves.”
During the award ceremony, President’s Challenge awardees were recognized for their dedication and efforts to living a physically active, healthier lifestyle.
Beverly Carradine-Gilmore, Installation Publications control officer, and Mark Swindal, Administrative Services, received Gold medals for earning 160,000 President’s Challenge points and counting. As of Aug.1, Carradine-Gilmore earned 242,589 points and Swindal currently has 186,286 points.
Robin Ellert, Education Services Specialist Chief of on-duty programs; Andrea Everett, Installation FOIA officer; Kelichia Wellons, mail clerk; and Roger Bruce White, guidance counselor, all received Bronze medals for reaching 40,000 points.
For Everett, the honor of receiving a bronze medal did not only come with a medallion and a certificate. The 40,000 points she was recognized for at the ceremony was signed by the U.S. President Barak Obama. Ellert, who is an active member in the Civilian Fitness Program, includes the points earned in the fitness program to her President’s Challenge account.
“I am very proud of [Civilian team],” said Allmon. “I have a great group of Civilian employees. Our motto is 'one team,' work together. Whatever my accomplishments are is because of them and what they do.”
Carradine-Gilmore encourages the community to get involved in the program because it is a win-win situation.
“You’re getting rewarded for something you’re already doing,” she said. “There’s not anything additional you have to go and do. You might as well get credit for something that you’re already doing. I encourage everyone to get involved and register for the President’s Challenge.”
Allmon says that the command philosophy of “one team” is DHR’s motto, and DHR is “one team.”
“I try to preach the philosophy to my folks,” he said. “What I know, they know. The [buddy system] is the kind of philosophy I try to incorporate with my employees, so they can step up to the plate anytime. . . It also touches on that one area of resiliency.”
During the ceremony, DHR also recognized Civilians in an award ceremony, which included Employee of the Quarter.
Civilians are also encouraged to participate in the Civilian Fitness Program. The fitness program makes it convenient and fun for participants to measure their workout progress by using the President’s Challenge Program, an avenue to track one’s activity progress.
“In order to enroll in the fitness program, the participant has to enroll in the President’s Fitness Challenge,” said Bradley. “It is used as a tracking mechanism to assess how the participant is doing throughout the program. Not only do we track [their progress], but the participant can track [their progress] with the President’s Fitness Challenge as well.”
The next Civilian Fitness Program will take place in September.
For more information about the Civilian Fitness Program, call 912-767-3031 or visit www.stewartmwr.com/index.php/sports_gyms_aquatics_fitness/newman_fitness_center/. For more information about President’s Challenge Program, visit www.presidentschallenge.org.
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