Photo By Monica Wood | Members of the 75th Brigade Unit Ministry Team (UMT) form a breakout group on Day 2 of...... read more read more
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FORT SILL, Oklahoma (Nov. 17, 2021) A new initiative by Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Thomas Solhjem, the Army chief of chaplains, is helping Army command teams and leaders build Soldiers’ spiritual readiness. The Army-wide training started at Fort Sill Nov. 15 through 19 at the Cache Creek Chapel Complex.
The Spiritual Readiness Initiative (SRI) developed against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and was driven by Army senior leaders’ focus on people first, said Chaplain (Col.) Robert Glazener, senior chaplain, Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill. The initiative seeks to do its part to address the quality of life issues and programs that affect Army communities, including suicide, substance abuse, sexual harassment/assault and extremism prevention programs.
According to Field Manual 7-22 Holistic Health and Fitness, a strong spiritual core is a sense of connection that gives meaning and purpose to a person’s life. It helps Soldiers develop the personal qualities they need in times of stress, hardship, and tragedy, and includes knowing one’s purpose, core values, beliefs, identity and life vision…which define the essence of a person, according to the field manual.
“We are bringing to the awareness of Army leaders the affect the science of spirituality has on our Soldiers,” said Glazener. “Spiritual readiness also brings in behavioral health. It’s ground breaking and will help in changing the Army’s culture.”
While the goal is building personal spirituality, the impact of achieving that goal affects the readiness and resiliency of every Army unit, he said.
“Our ministry is to encourage and bolster Soldier morale, and let each Soldier know they are a valued member of the team,” Glazener said. “We are ministering and caring for people with a strategic mission. Historically, the Army spends a lot of time talking about the physical and mental fitness of Soldiers. But now we are integrating spiritual fitness into the equation.”
Although spirituality now has a higher profile in overall Soldier wellbeing, Glazener said it has always been part of the Army’s resiliency program.
“The Army hasn’t changed. But society has moved out from underneath many of the core values of the Army’s foundation,” he said. “For many of today’s 18 to 25 year olds, their spiritual life is not well formed. Therefore, when they have trauma or difficulty in making decisions, they make poor choices.
“In Soldier training, we are incorporating spiritual development in a more intentional and repetitive way so that it is recognized as a way of life. We are taking a new approach of working with young Soldiers with identifying goals and their purpose, and helping them through the transformation from citizen to Soldier.”
According to Glazener, the Army defines spirituality as based on a person’s religion, their philosophy of life, or their human connections.
The SRI brings together chaplains and Behavioral Health professionals, with unit ministry teams, command teams, BH practitioners, other medical providers, and Army Community Services staff, to introduce the benefits of spirituality and the skills for building spiritual readiness in Soldiers and in the Army.
The initiative is based on decades of research of spirituality and psychology by Dr. Lisa Miller, a clinical psychologist, researcher, and professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute. She is also the keynote speaker for the training.
FM 7-22 provides several examples to build spirituality through myriad nonreligious and religious methods, including encouraging Soldiers to be involved in service to others through volunteer work; hospitality towards fellow Soldiers, neighbors, community members, and even strangers; attending meetings, either religious or nonreligious; journaling for self-reflection; and meditation, amongst others.
During the initiative, Miller suggests two central ways for leaders to build Soldiers’ spirituality: one, asking the deeper questions—what matters most in life, what is life’s meaning, what do Soldiers believe is their life purpose—and two, having those deep conversations communally with Soldiers in a squad or unit, particularly in times of challenge, defeat, or trauma.
“There is a real sense of opportunity, stewardship, and responsibility to help our young Soldiers become the best versions of themselves,” Glazener said.
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.19.2021 10:36 |
| Story ID: | 409567 |
| Location: | FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 516 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Sill command teams and leaders learn about spiritual readiness initiative, by Monica Wood, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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