VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. –
Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers, along with three civilians, participated in the second annual Master Fitness Trainer/ Master Resilience Trainer workshop developed by the Virginia Army National Guard Holistic Health and Fitness and the Resilience, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention teams July 31 to Aug. 2, 2024, at Joint Expeditionary Base Fort Story and the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“Two-week training at the schoolhouse is all they get so this is more of a continuing education mindset,” explained Capt. Brian Harder, Holistic Health and Fitness regional coordinator. “It’s a way to give them a whole lot of different areas they could further pursue on their own time or in the military to further their career.”
The three-day workshop provided training to conduct collective networking and education opportunities to refresh on training, discuss the industry’s education and development updates, and develop an improved network, organizational structure, and esprit de corps amongst all the VAARNG MFT/MRT community.
Master Fitness Trainers were recently renamed Holistic Health and Fitness Integrators.
Holistic Health and Fitness represents a cultural shift in the way the Army trains, develops, and cares for our Soldiers. H2F addresses the five domains of physical and non-physical readiness (physical, mental, sleep, nutrition and spiritual) through a comprehensive, integrated system of governance, personnel, equipment/facilities, programming and education to optimize individual Soldier readiness, reduce preventable injuries, improve rehabilitation outcomes after injury, and ensure our Soldiers are physically and mentally prepared to fight and win our nation’s wars.
“We’re balancing between MRT and H2F-I, how they’re integrated and where it’s going in the future,” Harder said. “We expose them to all these tools that are out there for them to use.”
More than 20 Soldiers participated in the workshop, which was almost double the last workshop, according to Master Sgt. Ramon Abreu-Perez, H2F state coordinator.
Among the civilians participating were representatives of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services and the Army Recovery Care Program.
“As a civilian who attended, I thought that the workshop was informative,” said Lisa Mooney, with the DVS Virginia Veteran & Family Support Program. “I gained more knowledge about the National Guard. I enjoyed the fact that civilians and National Guard members came together to develop ways to better serve the Soldiers relating to retention, suicide prevention, on and off base resources, mental health support, physical and spiritual health tools.”
“This is an opportunity for H2F-Is to have fellowship amongst themselves and establish a connection with each other,” Abreu Perez explained. “We’re hoping that after this they will have that relationship and that connection.”
Representatives from a number of organizations spoke to the attendees. Virginia National Guard representatives included the chaplain, the state surgeon, Family Programs and Recruiting and Retention. Other presenters included the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, Longwood University and Armed Forces Wellness Center.
“As an MRT presenter I enjoyed the updated information and speakers who spoke on the mental and physical wellbeing of Virginia Army National Soldiers,” said Staff Sgt. Wayne Graves, assigned to the Counterdrug Task Force Drug Demand Reduction Outreach Program. “I believe the class gave some tools to use to help me help Soldiers of my unit by passing on the resources available to Soldiers for total wellness. I highly recommend that all leaders take this course for the benefit of their Soldiers.”
Adding speakers from different support organizations this year gave the MRTs and H2F-I Soldiers a larger list of resources, according to Alton L. Sturdifen, Sr., Virginia National Guard Resilience, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention coordinator.
“A lot of the Soldiers were not aware that some of these resources existed,” he said. “During the workshop, the MRTs and H2F-Is worked together to develop a better plan to implement the programs within their units.”
“This is an opportunity for them to further their knowledge and network,” Harder said. “There are a ton of resources we are compiling for them and we’re trying to set them up for the best success going forward.”
“H2F-Is and MRTs are the unit leaders when it comes to these topics,” Harder explained. “They are the ones who are the commander’s right-hand person and advocate for these different policies and principles. So this will all benefit Soldiers in the long run.”
“The feedback from the participants was great,” Sturdifen said. “The biggest complaint was wanting more time which made us feel good. Knowing that the Soldiers are eager to learn more is a plus in my opinion.”