Photo By Jonathan Dahms | Students attending the Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) Academy undergo a...... read more read more
FORT JACKSON – As the U.S. Army continues to implement Holistic Health and Fitness across the force, the Army identified a need to provide resources at the company-level versed in all five domains of the H2F system.
To meet this need, in September 2023 the Army rebranded the U.S. Army Physical Fitness School as the U.S. Army Holistic Health and Fitness Academy (H2F Academy) and revamped the Master Fitness Trainer course to the H2F Integrator course that provides students a baseline in all physical and non-physical domains of H2F.
“I think the biggest thing that the Academy does in terms of supporting the implementation of Holistic Health and Fitness across the Army is creating a group of subject matter experts in H2F that can force multiply after they leave the schoolhouse and return to their units to help improve or enhance the programs that those units are doing,” said Lt. Col. Benjamin Bower, the H2F Academy Director. “Holistic Health and Fitness is becoming embedded in our culture, and so we're able to provide subject matter experts back to the Army to help enhance H2F at the unit level, wherever they are in the process of fully implementing the H2F system.”
Historically, Master Fitness Trainers have been trained to assist commanders in developing physical readiness training (PRT) programs to improve their unit's operational readiness and minimize injuries. While H2F Integrators being trained at the Academy will still learn how to effectively conduct and build PRT plans for their units, they will also receive training in the non-physical domains of H2F.
“One of the most important things the Academy does in helping the Army implement H2F is educating Soldiers that fitness is not just physical fitness and not just your PT score. That narrow focus can be counterproductive,” said Emily Broda, Deputy Director for the H2F Academy. “Fitness is so much more than that and H2F requires that we look at the readiness and interconnectedness of all five domains—physical, mental, nutritional, spiritual and sleep.”
H2F Integrators will be able assist personnel at the unit level across all H2F domains and direct them to resources as needed based on individual assessments.
“I think the H2F program has changed the culture in a sense that we recognize that soldiers are people and that we can't just operate as robots, so it takes into consideration things like nutrition, sleep and mental readiness, things that we may not have paid so much attention to in the past,” said Staff Sgt. Orellana Porfirio, who attended the H2F Integrator course in January and is assigned to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. “My role will be to run the H2F program at our unit and help soldiers that do struggle with overall fitness or nutrition to get back into AR 600-9 standards.”
As part of the training at the Academy, cadre show the connection between the exercises students are learning and how they translate to common warrior tasks and battle drills.
“I'd say it's very necessary to make that connection. Obviously, each unit is going to have different needs for fitness and what warrior tasks and battle drills they might be expected to perform,” said Sgt. Ryan Kirk-Connell, a member of the 282nd Army Band at Fort Jackson who also went through the H2F Integrator course in January. “As we understand our exercises and how they might relate to different warrior tasks and battle drills, that will help us to program once we get back to our units and keep everything relevant and focused, and really understanding the ‘why’ behind what we’re asking our Soldiers to do.”
While the Army is resourcing units with H2F Performance Teams that have civilian and contracted human performance expertise, H2F Integrators help fill the gaps with units that do not have a performance team or to be the company-level leader to coordinate with other resources.
“H2F Integrators know how to complement physical programming with foundational mental, spiritual, nutritional, and sleep domain content,” Bower said. “For H2F non-resourced units, they will serve as the liaison between the unit and physical and non-physical domain resources found on the installation or in the community for personnel at remote locations. For instance, they can work with chaplains to bolster spiritual domain content, or coordinate with the Armed Forces Wellness Center, Military and Family Morale, Welfare, and Recreation teams, Army Community Services, Military Treatment Facility Registered Dietitians, and Occupational Therapists to enhance programming in the nutritional, mental, and sleep domains.”
Having NCOs serving as H2F-Integrators in their unit’s footprint allows commanders to start moving out without waiting for their contractors or civilians to arrive. To match the demand signal from operational units, the H2F Academy is reinvigorating their Mobile Training Teams to go out to units, train, and certify them with the new ASI. If units are embedded with H2F Performance Teams, the Mobile Training Team will also certify their Performance Teams and credential them to also begin training and certifying Soldiers to earn their H2F Integrator ASI.
"The desire is there; people want H2F in their units, so why not bring the trainers to them to get trained noncommissioned officers out into the force,” said Bower. "We are excited to educate the force on the five domains of H2F and help continue placing our people first.
Bower said the Academy is currently looking to create an H2F SQI that would train H2F Advisors at the battalion and brigade level to coordinate H2F efforts at echelon for both H2F resourced and H2F non-resourced units.
| Date Taken: | 02.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2024 14:31 |
| Story ID: | 463313 |
| Location: | FORT JACKSON, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 206 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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