Photo By Bernhard Lashleyleidner | Staff Sgt. Demarius Pringle, an information technology specialist with HHC, 1st ABCT,...... read more read more
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FORT RILEY, Kan. – The Army’s fundamental task is like no other – to “win in the unforgiving crucible of ground combat,” wrote Gen. Mark Milley, the 39th Army Chief of Staff, in his initial message to the force.
“We must ensure the Army remains ready as the world’s premier combat force. Readiness for ground combat is – and will remain – the U.S. Army’s No. 1 priority,” Milley wrote.
The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, began its support of the CSA’s first priority by actively participating in the Army’s Performance Triad initiative, which officially began Aug. 31, 2015, at Fort Riley.
The Performance Triad, or P3, is a comprehensive strategy to improve readiness and increase resilience through health promotion initiatives and leadership engagement, according to the program’s website. It focuses on achieving target behaviors in the areas of sleep, activity and nutrition to optimize Soldier performance and maximize unit readiness.
“The Performance Triad is an initiative to help Soldiers, families, Army civilians and retirees lead healthier lives,” said Col. Deydre Teyhen, director, Health and Wellness, System for Health and Performance Triad, Office of the Surgeon General. “There are trends in our country related to preventable disease and sedentary lifestyles. It is time we all take more action to sleep better, move more and eat healthier.”
Teyhen and her team said because of the need to understand how to implement the effort Army wide, the 2015 pilot is being executed in five brigades chosen by FORSCOM, including the “Devil” brigade.
Soldiers of the 1st ABCT were recognized during their most recent deployment to Kuwait and Iraq in 2014 by then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno for having a 95 percent medical availability rate, the highest in the Army at that time.
“Having the highest medical readiness rate was incredible, but we are looking forward now,” said Maj. Amy Thompson, brigade surgeon, 1st ABCT. “We still have a lot we can improve on in terms of health and readiness and I believe the Performance Triad is going to ignite a spark in 1st Brigade towards improved health of individuals and families, and ultimately increase combat power for mission success.”
Teyhen said the initiative was first envisioned by Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho prior to her appointment as the Army Surgeon General. After assuming command, she created a working group that began to develop the basis for the current curriculum in the summer of 2012.
“The focus of the current curriculum is on improving the health readiness and resilience of the total Army family by understanding that small changes can make a big difference,” Teyhen said. “It also supports the Army’s Ready and Resilient campaign and the five dimensions of strength: physical, emotional, social, family and spiritual.”
Teyhen said the overarching goal of Performance Triad was to maximize physical, emotional and cognitive readiness with the science-based formula of sleep, activity and nutrition information the Performance Triad provides.
“Optimal performance is achieved when all three components are addressed simultaneously,” Teyhen said. “The Performance Triad is for everyone – Soldiers, Army civilians, families and retirees – we all can benefit from making small changes to our daily lives to optimize our sleep, activity and nutrition.”
Preparing for implementation
The Performance Triad team conducted a site visit to Fort Riley in July to familiarize Devil brigade commanders, Soldiers and family members with the initiative.
During the three-day visit, the team provided an overview of the initiative and conducted assessments of key facilities located within in the brigade area to assess the health of the environments in which they live, work and play.
“I am very optimistic and so excited the Army is ‘all in’ for a culture change to promote health behaviors and emphasize long-term health and lifestyle improvements to Soldiers,” Thompson said. “There is so much all of us can improve on regarding sleep, activity, nutrition and focusing more on our basic health needs.”
Leading up to implementation in the brigade, the unit’s surgeon section held meetings every week for two months and partnered with Fort Riley’s Irwin Army Community Hospital, the 1st Inf. Div. surgeon’s office and the OTSG medical teams to make sure the Performance Triad training was maximized across the formation, ensuring the pilot’s goals are attained, once implemented.
Members of the P3 team said success for the pilot meant having it become part of the Army’s DNA like the Army values.
“We have a lot of work to do still,” Thompson said. “But our momentum is strong and we look forward to engaging in every aspect of the training moving forward.”
The P3 team visited Fort Riley the first two weeks in September to conduct baseline assessments and also for what they referred to as Performance Triad University. They trained designated Soldiers in the brigade to teach the P3 tenants of sleep, activity and nutrition to all Soldiers in the brigade to maximize readiness, as well as ensuring medical assets on the ground are able to support the effort. The two-week coach, teach and mentor session officially began the implementation the Army-wide initiative in 1st ABCT and at Fort Riley.
Soldiers were given a physical assessment and an initial “Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs” survey prior to the baseline and will receive additional surveys midway through and at completion.
The team of experts and scientists who designed the new initiative will eventually analyze the data from this effort for future Army wide implementation.
Leaders excited to participate
Many leaders in the Devil brigade said they looked forward to learning how to increase their own individual readiness and that of their units through better health, and think P3 will have long-lasting, progressive effects on the brigade going forward.
“P3 is ultimately about readiness; this is training and certifying individuals and leaders to do their part to build individual readiness,” Col. Timothy Hayden, commander, 1st ABCT, said. “I'm absolutely confident the Devil brigade combat team will see the return on this investment, but more importantly, Soldiers and their families will see the same return on their individual and family readiness as well. We are excited to do this and building it in to our culture.”
First Sgt. Gina Curry, senior noncommissioned officer for Company E, 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st ABCT, said P3 was a worthwhile endeavor and that she was eager to create a healthier culture in her company.
“I am definitely excited; I believe it is going to increase readiness within the brigade,” Curry said. “I am going to promote it in my company by leading by example, by eating more nutritious foods, talking about it and then having my NCOs do the same. During PT time, I plan to throw a ‘food for thought’ fact out every morning for my Soldiers to think about.”
Curry said she planned to share helpful tips about sleep, activity and nutrition found in the literature she received during Performance Triad University with her Soldiers during physical training.
Teyhen said Army families are also encouraged to participate and could lead the way to help inspire and change this part of the culture.
“The Army asks so much of the family members and this is one way the Army continues to say ‘thank you’ and that it cares deeply about the health and well-being of Army families,” Teyhen said. “Everyone, regardless of age or occupation, benefits from taking care of themselves and, when the families are ready, it helps our Soldiers be even more ready to fight and win our nation’s wars.”
| Date Taken: | 09.17.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.18.2015 17:09 |
| Story ID: | 176578 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KS, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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