Army aims to improve soldiers' mental fitness

An Army program developed partly as a response to an increase in soldier suicides will test all active duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers to determine how they handle stress, assess their resiliency and require follow-up training.

Data collected on drug use and dismissals from service have shown that some soldiers stressed by frequent combat deployments could use a hand in coping with the emotional toll, Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, chief of comprehensive soldier fitness, said Wednesday.

"Our younger people are having more trouble than anybody else," said Cornum, who is overseeing the new program.

Beginning Oct. 1, all active duty and reserve soldiers will take an online, 170-question assessment of their resiliency, starting with recruits and going through Army's basic training. The test is repeated every two years.

Commanders won't know how their soldiers scored on the test, but will be notified if they have taken it and participated in the follow-up training, Cornum said.

"It's not looking for disease," she said. "We only know if (progress) is sufficient if in two years the soldier scores better and is better in the interim."

The 11-page survey asks how soldiers are feeling physically, emotionally and spiritually, as well as how they are viewing life in general. It asks if they are feeling alone, left out or pessimistic about life.

Cornum said all soldiers will receive some training regardless of their scores on the confidential resiliency exam. The average score of 4,000 surveys administered in a pilot program thus far has been 3.7 on a 5-point scale. The higher the score, the more resilient the individual.

Cornum told officers studying at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth that soldiers' mental fitness must receive the same emphasis as physical fitness.

The Army says early studies show soldiers remain fairly resilient even after eight years of war. Still, there were a record 140 soldier suicides in 2008, pushing the rate per 100,000 troops beyond the civilian rate for the first time since record-keeping started.

The Army said Aug. 13 that there were 62 confirmed suicides and 34 unconfirmed cases from Jan. 1 through July 31.

The resiliency training program was developed by the University of Pennsylvania, where an initial group of 50 Army trainers already have completed sessions on how to improve resiliency skills. The next group will have 150 soldiers, with an emphasis on senior noncommissioned officers, such as drill sergeants at basic training centers.

Cornum said soldiers who have gone through the training have found that even if they were fairly resilient, skills they learned were making a difference in their personal and professional lives. The command college plans to integrate the resiliency training into existing courses that focus on stress and leadership.

Maj. Dave Maxwell, a student at the college, spent a year in Iraq. He said the pace of the war is different from Desert Storm in 1991 when soldiers deployed, fought and returned to get on with their lives.

Maxwell also said although combat is dangerous, it is to a degree an environment secure from the physical, spiritual and social stresses soldiers will face when they return home and that can lead to greater problems.

"It's a health issue," Maxwell said.

Mark Tolmachoff, a faculty member at the command college, returned from training Wednesday. He said the group bought into the concepts and how it could apply to their lives.

"All agreed that by NCOs buying into it, living it, it will catch on with the soldiers," Tolmachoff said.

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On the Net:

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness: http://www.army.mil/CSF/index.html