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Resilience: Mind, Body, Social And Spirit

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Groder
  • 501st Combat Support Wing
25 years of service as a Defender, 11 deployments, countless TDYs and 14 straight years of night shifts. This is my career at a glance, a career that would not have been possible if I had not learned the importance of training to be resilient early on.

According to the Profession of Arms “The Little Blue Book” our chosen profession is that of a higher calling, in which we hold ourselves to higher standards and are asked to make great sacrifices in our lives. Make no mistake, no matter what your day to day duties entail each of us has answered our nations call to the profession of arms and could be called to action at a moment’s notice. To serve proudly and capably, our commitment to our cause must be unbreakable and each of us must do everything in our power to be resilient in the mind, body, social and spiritual domains of Comprehensive Airmen Fitness (CAF).

Resilience in the United States Air Force is a four pronged approach in which Airmen Remain mentally fit by employing sound mental health practices, maintain a physically fit body, engage in healthy social networks and sustain a sense of self and purpose through Spiritual resilience.

"Our job is to fight and win the nation's wars. We'll never be good enough at it; we've got to get better every day. It's not an easy task, which is why Comprehensive Airman Fitness is so important,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. “Our focus must be on the well-being and care for ourselves, each other and our families so we can be more resilient to the many challenges military service brings."

The challenge is to not just think of this as another job but as a way of life, a profession which requires extraordinary resilience. Each of us must look deep inside and take the necessary steps to remain resilient and ready to perform our day to day duties to the fullest extent and for our moment when we may be called to action.

Each of the four domains of CAF will mean different things to each of us and there is no one size fits all approach to achieve resilience but the Air Force has many programs and recourses available to assist each member on their journey to resilience. As I wind my career down my commitment to resilience has never been stronger and I have used many of these resources over the years to ensure peak performance and to be ready for my moment; so I challenge each of you to be strong of mind, body, social and spirit!