VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. –
Nine Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers participated in a workshop developed by the Virginia Army National Guard Holistic Health and Fitness and the Resilience, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention teams April 19- 21, 2023, at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The workshop brought together unit Master Fitness Trainers and Master Resilience Trainers to provide training, sharing of ideas and cohesiveness amongst servicemembers.
The event provided training by conducting collective networking and education opportunities to re-fresh Soldiers on training, discussed the industry’s education and development updates, and developed an improved network, organizational structure, and esprit de corps amongst all the VAARNG MFT/MRT community.
The H2F and R3SP teams joined efforts to form a workshop to discuss an array of topics and activities which included general H2F overview, small group discussions, organizational change, Army Combat Fitness Test and Army Body Composition Program updates and guidelines, internal and external resources for MRT/MFT, and a powerful keynote speaker presentation on “Breaking Barriers - Turning Obstacles into Opportunities”.
Soldiers participated in group Physical Readiness Training activities both days, which consisted of a muscular strength-endurance session and a low heart rate-focused release run during the sunrise hours.
“This workshop provided a proof of concept to the idea of bringing MRT’s and MFT’s togethers and provide them with updated continuing education,” according to Master Sgt. Ramon Abreu-Perez, VAARNG H2F state coordinator. “The Soldiers enjoyed not only topics but also the camaraderie and the opportunity to network with soldiers from other units.
“For the H2F and R3SP team it was also a good opportunity to showcase our passion and knowledge with other instructors as well as learning and getting a broader perspective of the program’s strengths and opportunities for improvement,” he said.
During the after-action review, it was determined that due to the positive effect and value of the training, it was recommended it should be conducted on the annual basis.