Comprehensive Airman Fitness aims to build resilient warriors

  • Published
  • By Air Combat Command
  • ACC Public Affairs Office
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (ACCNS) --  Under its enduring goal and key priority to develop and care for Airmen and their families, Air Combat Command has embraced a continued approach that empowers Airmen to create balance and allows them to thrive in their professional and personal lives.

In January, Gen. William M. Fraser III, commander of ACC, introduced the Comprehensive Airman Fitness approach to enhance resiliency, develop critical personal life-skills, reduce self-defeating behaviors and improve individual resiliency skills. The Airman Resiliency Development initiative is a major component of the program.

"Today's missions challenge our Airmen not just in a physical sense, but mentally and emotionally as well. Our renewed focus on all of these issues through Comprehensive Airman Fitness ensures our Airmen have the tools to be successful in the battlespace and on the homefront by helping them to strike a balance across the four pillars of fitness," General Fraser said.

The four key pillars are: physical, social, mental and spiritual. This holistic approach focuses on developing positive behaviors that equip and enable Airmen to make smarter, safer choices.

CAF promotes a series of behaviors which, if consistently put into practice, help build positive, meaningful interactions among people and help increase individuals' sense of purpose, meaning and belonging.

These positive behaviors include: care, commit, connect, communicate and celebrate. They help promote both individual and organizational resilience and create a sense of belonging among Airmen, spouses, children, civilians and the community as a whole.

Tending to the needs of the family, in addition to the servicemember, creates a network of encouragement. That balance is important to Jean Michel, ACC Airman and Family Services branch chief.

"CAF provides tools needed to function comfortably and effectively in the Air Force environment -- in supportive and caring communities," Mr. Michel said. "Our people deserve no less."

The primary goal of the resiliency training aspect of CAF is to prepare individuals for an adverse event before it happens. In effect, it allows Airmen to be proactive instead of reactive, according to Col. Michael Dwyer, the command resiliency project lead.

"I see resiliency as a long-term organizational benefit. It will make people more productive in all aspects: life, relationships, self-confidence and work. All should have a very positive impact on duty performance," Colonel Dwyer said.

According to Colonel Dwyer, ensuring Airmen and their families are equipped to handle the many demands they face day to day is one of the greatest responsibilities.

The ACC Airman Resiliency Program is the cornerstone of Comprehensive Airman Fitness and will leverage work done by the Army to accelerate development and implementation.

It is tailored after components of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, which was developed in cooperation with the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center to increase resiliency and performance.

Senior NCOs from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., are already being trained with the Army at the University of Pennsylvania and began working with Airmen on resiliency skills development in early June.