H2F Strengthens Warfighters on Fort Rucker

Photo By Brittany Trumbull | Fort Rucker senior leaders utilize the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) facility at Yano Hall during a PT event Aug. 21, 2026 run by the H2F professional team.  

FORT RUCKER, ALABAMA, UNITED STATES

12.31.1969

Story by Brittany Trumbull 

Aviation Center of Excellence

FORT RUCKER, Ala.— Physical strength can get a Soldier through a fitness test, but it takes more than muscles to create a warrior for the future fight.

At Fort Rucker and across the globe, the U.S. Army’s modern approach to readiness is moving far beyond the traditional weight room. Leading the way is the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) program, a specialized program designed to provide Soldiers at the brigade level build the physical and mental stamina required to perform, survive, and ultimately deploy.

Fully launched at Fort Rucker in October 2025, H2F utilizes a knowledgable team of health and performance professionals who focus on five core domains: physical, nutritional, mental, sleep, and spiritual readiness.

"We're really just an all-encompassing, readiness-centric place," said Jeremy McGowan, director of Fort Rucker’s H2F. "Everything is trying to make sure that we can keep Soldiers the fittest and the healthiest, honestly just fully ready to deploy."

The program currently operates with a 10-member staff, including a physical therapist, dietitian, occupational therapist, strength coaches, and a cognitive performance specialist. The team is split across two main locations: Yano Hall houses the gym, physical therapy clinic, and classroom spaces, while offices are located near the main Shopette and gas station.

While H2F serves the Soldiers of the 1st Aviation Brigade, the team works closely with both permanent-party Soldiers and trainees across the installation.

The physical side of the program blends physical therapy with strength and conditioning, focusing heavily on rehabilitation, injury prevention, and building functional power. But strength is only one piece of the bigger puzzle. The nutrition domain, for instance, moves past simple weight loss to target overall systemic health and performance.

According to McGowan, mental health and sleep are equally important, though often overlooked, parts of a Soldier's daily readiness.

"If you're not sleeping well, you're missing out on a lot of things," McGowan said. "You're not going to perform as well in the gym and you're going to be a lot hungrier. It’s something we have to work on with Aviators regularly."

To address the spiritual domain, the brigade chaplain partners with the H2F staff to provide classes and resources aimed at building personal resilience.

H2F is also expanding into specialized care by supporting the Pregnancy and Postpartum Physical Training (P3T) program. McGowan said that H2F is uniquely positioned to step into this role because local resources for specialized pregnancy and postpartum fitness have historically been limited.

The program’s connections with the Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker leadership is also growing. A recent training session for the command team offered a hands-on look at how these different disciplines connect.

During the session, leaders completed physical workouts that incorporated cognitive games into their exercise supersets, forcing quick decision making while physically exhausted. Immediately following the workout, dietitians led a "turf talk" right on the gym floor to teach the leaders how to fuel their bodies for rapid recovery.

Currently, H2F staff members work directly with Advanced Individual Training (AIT) Soldiers multiple times a week. Other Soldiers across the brigade access the services through individual appointments or scheduled unit physical training sessions.

The long-term goal at Fort Rucker is to gain participation through a rotating schedule that allows every Soldier to routinely access all five services. To make that happen, the team is working on utilizing a mobile app that will allow Soldiers to book physical therapy, schedule dietitian appointments, and sign up for classes directly from their phones.

McGowan believes leveraging this programing will help H2F scale its efforts and make holistic health a natural part of a Soldier’s daily routine. "We're a resource for our warfighters," McGowan said. "We're strictly here to help. We want to see the Soldiers perform better, from a holistic standpoint."

As the program grows, McGowan said the ultimate objective is to move away from treating H2F as a place you only visit when you are injured. "We're trying to get more involved on a day-to-day basis," McGowan said. "Not just with PT, not just with certain other domains, but all-encompassing for all five domains involved."

To read more on H2F and see testimonials from Soldiers across the Army, head to https://h2f.army.mil/

• Date Taken: 12.31.1969
• Date Posted: 08.21.2026 15:03
• Story ID: 572997
• Location: FORT RUCKER, ALABAMA, US