Health and Wellness Week at 146th Airlift Wing

Photo By Maj. Kimberly Holman | 146th Airlift Wing Commander Col. Keith Ward enjoys a colorful and nutritious salad prepared by Cordon-Bleu-trained Chef Senior Master Sgt. Neil Bulatao of the 146th Airlift Wing Services Flight during Health and Wellness Week--a new concept developed as part of the wing's focus on fitness this year. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Kimberly Holman)  

PORT HUENEME, CA, UNITED STATES

03.13.2018

Story by Maj. Kimberly Holman 

146 Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard

While most of us were still in bed or starting our drive in to work, 15 Air National Guardsmen were out on a 5-mile walk on the beach at Pt. Mugu the week of March 5, 2018. Health and Wellness Week is a new concept developed by a few members of the 146th Airlift Wing's Resiliency Team. As part of the wing's focus on fitness this year, the idea was executed with overwhelming success.

"As a Total Force, readiness is the highest priority right now, and fitness is a key aspect of Airman readiness," said Colonel Keith Ward, 146th Airlift Wing Commander. "This group made the commitment and just experienced a remarkable week-long program to help them better understand their physical, spiritual, mental and social wellness. It is our hope that they have learned tools that will lead to a more healthy and fulfilling life."


Based off of the Comprehensive Airman Fitness model, the week focused heavily on fitness, but they also included courses like stress management, spiritual wellness, time management and goal setting, according to Chrystal Crawford, the wing's director of psychological health. Crawford headed up the logistical piece of the group who put the plan together, and oversaw the program throughout the week.


"We learned through this process how internally strong the wing is, and how many people we have that are so skilled, that we never would have known of had we not created this program," said Crawford. "Even just plugging in speakers throughout the week, we found experts in nutrition, yoga, physical fitness, meditation, even a Cordon-Bleu-trained chef. The majority of all of our subject matter experts are from this wing which is pretty spectacular."


Cordon-Bleu-trained Chef Senior Master Sgt. Neil Bulatao, with the 146 Services Flight, awed the participants with three spa-inspired meals and three light snacks every day, all prepared and seasoned to perfection, and mindful to portion size and nutrition.


"I love to show people how to combine textures, flavors and color to make the food more interesting and appealing to eat," said Bulatao. "All of the recipes were explained and shared that I used this week. People seemed genuinely appreciative and I think they learned a lot."


"Intrinsically, this is what we do as the resiliency team. We help people," said Julie Morency of the wing's Family Readiness Program. "But what's been really neat about this is that it's branched beyond the resiliency team to people who have come in from the wing and said 'I want to help.' It's been phenomenal."


"Even well before this week, members of the wing's medical group made time in their schedules to do labs and blood work for the participants, and came to explain the results in detail during the program, and they were happy to do it. Wing Safety stayed late so they could run an 'Alcohol and Your Health' course, and were excited to do it," explained Crawford. "Medical Group personnel were out with us every morning at 7:00 to help do PT and make sure people were safe, and the Services Flight, just the amount of work they put in early in the morning until late at night for our meals was sensational."


The team was thankful to wing leadership who allowed them to take this idea and give it a try. "While PT is such a big part of what we do, we wanted to take it beyond just the physical aspect of it," said Morency. "You're looking at stress, relaxation, food, eating on the road, financial issues, there are so many pieces to being healthy and well. We wanted to make this week all-encompassing and give Airmen somewhere to go for assistance."


"This was only a week. And in this timeframe the participants lost a combined 57.4 pounds. But this wasn't even the main goal," said Lt. Col. Laurel Tidemanson of the Resiliency Team. "Our goal and our hope is that members can take what they've learned here and apply it throughout their lives."

• Date Taken: 03.13.2018
• Date Posted: 03.13.2018 17:54
• Story ID: 269224
• Location: PORT HUENEME, CA, US