 Comprehensive Fitness Date Published 1 January 2017 Senior Master Sergeant Schultz is the Red Horse, or Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer, Squadron Superintendent. Due to the nature of their missions, the Commander has tasked Senior Master Sergeant Schultz with assessing her people's readiness. Based on recent deployment after action reports, she's concerned about identified items that indicate issues with her people's overall wellness. She knows that if these items aren't addressed, their missions could be negatively impacted. The Commander wants Senior Master Sergeant Schultz to review the report, evaluate the unit's current programs, and develop COAs to either enhance what they already have in place or suggest new ones. She tells Senior Master Sergeant Schultz that this tasker is of the utmost importance to her and any concerns must be addressed now while in garrison so they don't impact her people's ability to perform when deployed. Realizing that she has a tough job ahead of her, Senior Master Sergeant Schultz doesn't know how to proceed. What would you suggest? 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 airmen fitness is so important. Our focus is 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. General Mark A. Welch III, United States Air Force retired, 20th Air Force Chief of Staff. Inside this chapter, introduction to comprehensive fitness. Total Force Fitness or TFF, Comprehensive Airmen Fitness Program or CAF, Resilience, Domains of Fitness, CAF Framework, Mental, Physical, Social, Spiritual, Impact of Comprehensive Fitness, Subordinate, Senior NCO, Mission. Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to terminal cognitive objective, comprehend comprehensive fitness concepts and or their impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Terminal cognitive samples of behavior. Identify comprehensive fitness concepts and or their impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Illustrate comprehensive fitness concepts and or their impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Predict the impact of comprehensive fitness concepts on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Effective Objective Value comprehensive fitness and its positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Effective Samples of Behavior Enthusiastically dedicate yourself to read and listen to all material about comprehensive fitness and its impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Voluntarily complete all coursework related to comprehensive fitness and its impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Openly accept comprehensive fitness and its positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. willingly develop a preference for comprehensive fitness and its positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Strive toward a commitment to apply comprehensive fitness because of its positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. Take a moment and think about your people. Are some so stressed that they're making questionable decisions? Do you have a few that work so hard they forget to eat lunch, resulting in a decrease in concentration? You probably have that one airman on your team that seems like a loner. He doesn't participate in any unit functions or talk with anyone about anything other than work. If you had to deploy or complete an important task in garrison, do you think you would be successful with this group? It used to be that as long as you passed your physical fitness test, you were considered ready, ready to deploy, ready to handle stressful situations, ready to take on the responsibility that comes with being an airman. However, we now know that readiness is more complex than that. As a senior enlisted leader, it's your responsibility to ensure your people are ready or fit. This means helping ensure your airmen are capable of performing in stressful environments, that they can bounce back as quickly as possible from intense situations. In order to meet this important responsibility, you must focus on comprehensive fitness. In this chapter, you'll learn about the holistic nature of fitness. You'll begin with an introduction that highlights the importance of comprehensive fitness from the standpoint of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and what the Air Force has done via the Comprehensive Airman Fitness Program, or CAF, to meet the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's intent. Then, you'll jump into our Four Domains of Fitness. Here, you'll learn about the CAF framework, the Four Domains of Fitness, mental, social, physical, and spiritual. Finally, this chapter wraps up with the impact comprehensive fitness has on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. In order to understand the importance of this chapter, you first need to know why the approach to fitness changed. Let's cover this in the first section, Introduction to Comprehensive Fitness. Introduction to Comprehensive Fitness. As you read the introduction to this chapter, you probably ask yourself, what is comprehensive fitness, and why do I need to know this material? Well, the most valuable resource in our nation's military is people, and we must make sure they are prepared to execute the mission of fighting and winning wars at all times. Today, as a member of the profession of arms, you and others face a unique set of challenges. High on this list include working with less people and reduced budgets with no decrease in mission requirements. This could result in a multitude of sustained and diverse stressors that may impact each member's well-being and or level of wellness. In order to assist your people with their overall wellness, you should first understand why wellness is important. So in this section, you'll cover the CJCS Total Force Fitness Framework and the Air Force's Comprehensive Airman Fitness Program, or CAF. Although you're probably familiar with the CAF program, you may not know how it fits into the TFF framework. Additionally, you'll learn why resilience is an important part of overall wellness. Let's get started with the CJCS direction related to fitness. Explore. Key Terms. Total Force Fitness is the state in which the individual, family, and organization can sustain optimal well-being and performance under all conditions. Resilience is the ability to withstand, recover, and or grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. Well-being is the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous. Health is a state of complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Total Force Fitness Framework, or TFF. In September 2011, the CJCS introduced a framework for adopting and implementing TFF in CJCSI3405.01. According to the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, the goal of TFF is to provide holistically-based approaches that promote resilience and allow individuals, units, and families to grow and recover in ever-changing environments with multiple demands. The end state of this is optimal health, where all thrive and aren't merely free from injury or disease. The CJCS wanted to expand on the definition of fitness from just physical fitness to a more holistic approach of fitness that worked for the individual but includes families, units, and even the communities or environments where service members reside. Therefore, because of the scope of TFF, it's important for leaders at every level to understand, establish, and support Total Force Fitness within their organization. Core Components In order to ingrain the CJCS framework into our fitness culture, TFF has five core components. However, there are three that are applicable and highly relevant to your responsibility as a senior enlisted leader and member of the POA. Requires a holistic approach to best serve the warfighters, their families, and communities. You should understand that fitness impacts people other than just yourself and members of our profession. If you aren't fit, you may not be the best you can be for your family. Or, you may not be the ambassador the Air Force needs you to be in the community. It's about leadership. Leaders set the conditions for an effective fitness culture in the Total Force. TFF starts with you. If you don't make this fitness culture a priority, if you don't focus on you and your people's fitness, you risk failure as a leader. You should inspire your people to adopt this culture by leading from the front. Set the example by taking care of yourself and your well-being. Recognizes the family as the cornerstone of warfighter success. At the end of the duty day, your people go home to spouses, children, other family members, and even friends. For your people to be effective at work, you should recognize that their families are also a priority. Support their efforts to take care of their families. Understand that if their family's needs aren't being met, they may not be able to concentrate on the mission. Integrity first. Accountability is responsibility with an audience. That audience includes our families and loved ones. Hold your people accountable and responsible, not only for their duties or missions, but also for their families' needs. TFF domains. The TFF framework consists of eight domains designed to help service members flourish in an environment of sustained deployments and combat operations. These domains were derived from numerous sources, such as the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program, or CSF, the Navy's Total Family Fitness and Combat Operational Stress Programs, the Total Airmen Comprehensive Fitness Program, and the Integrative Health Care Approaches being piloted in the Air Force and the National Guard, a true Total Force framework. The individual TFF domains are listed below and in the chart. Additionally, the chart includes components or areas you should consider in order to be fit in each domain. Physical fitness. On the chart, strength, endurance, flexibility, mobility. The ability to physically accomplish all aspects of the mission while remaining healthy and uninjured. Environmental fitness. On the chart, heat, cold, altitude, noise, air quality. The ability to perform mission-specific duties in any environment. Medical and dental fitness. On the chart, access, immunizations, screening, prophylaxis, dental. The ability to meet established standards for medical readiness. Nutritional fitness. On the chart, food quality, nutrition requirements, supplement use, food choices. The ability to recognize and select the requisite nutrition to sustain and optimize physical and cognitive performance and health. Spiritual fitness. On the chart, service values, positive beliefs, meaning making, ethical leadership, accommodate diversity. The ability to adhere to beliefs, principles, or values needed to persevere and prevail in accomplishing missions. Psychological fitness. On the chart, coping, awareness, beliefs, appraisals, decision-making, engagement. The ability to effectively cope with the unique mental stressors and challenges needed to ensure mission readiness. Behavioral fitness. On the chart, substance abuse, hygiene, risk mitigation. The relationship between one's behaviors and health. Social fitness. On the chart, social support, task cohesion, social cohesion, family cohesion. The ability to engage in healthy social networks that promote overall well-being and optimal performance. Service responsibilities. CAF objectives. Improve individual resiliency skills. Develop critical personal life skills. Enhance community resiliency. Reduce self-defeating behaviors. Enhance physical fitness. CJCSI3405.01 states that each service has certain responsibilities pertaining to TFF. At a minimum, they must use the framework to enhance and or refine current fitness programs and continually evaluate the TFF program in order to recommend changes or improvements as required. Review and, when required, modify readiness reporting standards to account for health and fitness issues impacting the service's ability to provide organized, trained, and equipped forces. Continue to promote healthy lifestyles, optimize safety and healthy working conditions, facilitate access to health care, and conduct periodic health assessments. Monitor the total fitness of personnel, identify and mitigate the threats, stressors, and other risks to their health and safety, and ensure the availability of countermeasures and preventive methods. Continue to ensure that deploying personnel are holistically fit for worldwide duty in accordance with the TFF standards. Provide appropriate medical support, training, equipment, and supplies to implement these policies. The Air Force develops the Comprehensive Airman Fitness Program, or CAF, which is in accord with the CJCS TFF framework with the goal of building a force with the ability to withstand, recover, and or grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. Comprehensive Airman Fitness, or CAF. CAF is a lifestyle and culture that focuses on making sound choices while building a thriving Air Force comprised of comprehensively balanced individuals that are engaged in becoming mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually fit. Deborah L. James, Secretary of the Air Force. AFI 90-506, Comprehensive Airman Fitness, or CAF, requires that we change how we view and maintain fitness. It encourages a cultural shift that encourages airmen to hold each other accountable and responsible for understanding the value of holistic fitness and maintaining a lifestyle that's representative of our fitness culture. CAF provides an integrated framework similar to the TFF that encompasses many cross-functional education and training efforts, activities, programs, and other equities that play a contributory role in sustaining a fit and ready force. According to the AFI, CAF equips airmen with the tools and skills required to continually assess and adjust or calibrate to their environment by allowing them to maintain the necessary balance of cognitive skill, physical endurance, emotional stamina, and spiritual well-being needed to execute our central mission to fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace. As a senior NCO, policy dictates that you must continue to develop airmen and their families, ensuring they're prepared mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually to carry out their missions. This may include tasks such as explaining your unit's mission and responsibilities to new airmen and their families, educating them on the potential challenges they may face while assigned to the unit, frequent deployments, extended duty hours, etc. In advance, can help your airmen and their families be better prepared to deal with them in a healthy manner when they do occur. Additionally, you can let them know what resources or agencies are available to assist them, such as the unit's key spouse program and the services offered by the base chapel, for example, and still CAF principles to increase the performance of individuals, supervisors, leaders, and teams under your control, addressing life issues and accomplishing the mission. You can do this by setting the example, highlighting the importance of all aspects of fitness, not just the physical one. Talk to your people about the impact comprehensive fitness has on their ability to perform their duties or even bounce back from stressful events if they occur. Be aware of your people's situations. Address any problems or even potential issues early so they can continue to perform at effective levels. CAF is a strength-based approach that emphasizes what people and organizations do to foster balanced fitness and make sound choices. Its targeted programs teach adaptive skills and promote activities focused on holistic fitness and optimal performance. One of the goals of CAF is to develop high-performing airmen and families capable of persevering through life's challenges and growing in their ability to handle diversity. Two vital areas of CAF that support this goal are resilience and the five C's. Resilience. Learning to deal with stressful situations can make future ones easier to manage, making you more resilient. Amanda McMillan Stress Management Expert. Earlier in this section you read that resilience is the ability to withstand, recover, and or grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. But what does that really mean and why is it important? On a daily basis we all experience stressful situations. The easier it is for you to withstand, recover, and or grow in dealing with these situations, the more resilient you are. The more resilient you are, the easier and quicker it becomes for you to return to your normal state or even grow as a result of the stressful situation. So let's clarify a few key points about stressors and resilience. According to the American Institute of Stress there really has been no consistent agreement on what stress is. However, generally it can be described as physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension. Additionally it can be thought of as a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize. The common theme that can be agreed upon is that stress is a reaction. So let's use the working definition that defines stress as the reaction our bodies experience to external demands or stressors. The Institute goes on to say that stress, the reaction, isn't always harmful. It can have positive results such as increased productivity and can be healthy. In an article titled Five Weird Ways Stress Can Actually Be Good For You Amanda MacMillan writes that stress can boost brain power and memory, increase immunity, short term, motivate you to succeed. To differentiate between the types of stress let's say that good stress, use stress, is positive. Stressors associated with use stress include marriage, promotion, winning money, etc. Even though use stress does have an impact on the body, increased heart rate, sweating, etc. It's not as damaging as the bad type of stress. Distress. Distress is the type of stress that is negative. Stressors associated with distress include financial problems, divorce, punishment and work difficulties. Distress can be harmful mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. This chapter will focus on distress and its impact on your level of resilience and fitness. Resilience versus resistance. Don't confuse resilience to stress with resistance to stress. Resistance implies there is no response to stress. Resilience acknowledges that we all experience stress but like a rubber band once the stressful event is over we return to our normal state. Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control. Stress Continuum. The Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control uses the stress continuum model to identify how people react under stressful situations. These reactions are divided into four zones each reflecting what can happen as we experience stress. The zones form the foundation of the continuum. As stressors are introduced into our lives, they impact us on some level causing distress. The more significant the stressor is, the more severe the distress becomes. The continuum is adapted from the Navy stress continuum model. It's intended to be used as an example of how stressors impact your people and actions you can take to help them, not as a diagnostic tool. If you or your people need help dealing with stress please seek assistance from the appropriate agencies. Let's break down each zone by covering its description some general signs to help you recognize when someone is in the zone and what actions should be taken to help your people return to their normal state. Note, this list isn't all inclusive. Ready or green zone, not stress free, but using good coping skills, good to go. Represent your people's normal state of being when they're performing optimally, holistically fit and adapting to changes in the environment well. In this zone most likely calm and confident, well trained and prepared, motivated and mission focused displaying a positive attitude. As the leader when your people are in the ready zone you should continue to build unit cohesion ensure they participate in wingman day activities monitor for signs of distress, negative stress. Stress the importance of readiness for themselves and their families. Reacting or yellow zone reacting to life's normal stressors temporary, mild and reversible. Occurs when your people start to experience stressors or demands it may be an increase in ops tempo or a self-imposed stressor such as going back to school while working on a night shift. In this zone your people experience mild distress some impairment in job performance or relationships is noticeable as a result of the distress. However, the results of distress at this point are temporary. They go away usually when the stressor is removed or due to coping behavior. If your people are in this zone you might notice the following behaviors. Some anxiety irritability or sadness, negative attitudes, loss of motivation, interest and or focus, trouble concentrating on tasks may cut corners while performing duties. Since this is a low risk zone you should communicate, listen and encourage them ensure they're getting the opportunity to rest or sleep refer to outside sources counselor, chaplain, clinic if situation doesn't improve. In the injured or orange zone stress injury is damaging the mind, body or spirit, non-mission ready. The distress is no longer mild and the results are no longer temporary. It's severe and or persistent. At this point your people are impaired, not mission ready as a result of dealing with more significant stressors such as a loss of a family member, a threat to their lives or just an accumulation of normal wear and tear deploying back to back multiple times with no chance to recover in between. If people are in this zone you might notice the following behaviors loss of emotional control, panic rage, etc. social withdrawal loss of interest and activities they used to enjoy significant changes in sleep patterns always tired at work, major changes in appearance or behavior, substance abuse. This is a higher risk zone that could possibly leave your people scarred as a result of dealing with the stressor demand. Therefore you should refer to outside sources counselor, chaplain, clinic for early intervention help to minimize any potential issues offer time off to rest volunteer to provide meals for their family, etc. Your people may reach the ill or red zone if the significant stressors experienced in the injured zone persist, get worse care for a while and then get worse again. At this point your people may be at the point where their lives become impaired, can't make it out of bed can't do normal everyday tasks, etc. or at risk. Medical disorders such as PTSD major depression and substance abuse disorders are diagnosed in this zone. The distinction between the injured zone and the ill zone can only be made by medical professional. If a medical professional makes the determination that one of your people is in the ill zone you should ensure they're compliant with their treatment plan, continue to support them as much as possible monitor their progress, offering encouragement along the way, frequently check in on family members to make sure they have what they need and are in a safe and secure environment. For senior enlisted leaders there are four important takeaways concerning the continuum. Ill zone, stress injuries that become stress illnesses only diagnosed by health professionals. Injured zone, stress injuries damaging the mind, body or spirit non-mission ready. Reacting zone, reacting to life's normal stressors temporary, mild and reversible. Ready zone, not stress free using good coping skills. Good to go. Resiliency, bounce back as quickly as possible. Everyone experiences stressors and demands differently. One person might experience an event that causes a low level of distress while someone else experiencing the same event might feel a higher level of distress. However the easier it is for both of them to deal with the stressor the quicker they can return to a normal state of being both are in the red zone. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be proactive and encourage holistic fitness in your organization. When your people are comprehensively fit and experience distress they're able to return to their normal state faster. Know your people you should be able to recognize when your people are experiencing distress. You can help them bounce back by taking action as quickly as possible. Be familiar with the agencies and programs available on your base that can help your people when they experience distress. Timeliness is important get your people the help they need as soon as possible. This could minimize the issues caused by distress and potentially prevent their effects from becoming more severe. Would you like to get a general idea about your level of resiliency? In the manual follow the link below to take the resilience assessment developed by the Defense Centers of Excellence. This website also provides information and resources on this and other important wellness topics. Using the stress continuum to give you a general idea of how distress is impacting your people and taking the appropriate actions to assist them in dealing with it helps to build their resilience. However, building resilience is a collective effort between you, your people and the Air Force The Five C's can help create a community that your people can rely on when experiencing distress. The Five C's The Five C's located in the AETC CAF CONOPS are the vital fabric that forms the mosaic through which leaders create and sustain our Air Force community. They are behaviors that are essential to developing a healthy sense of self and the ability to effectively interact with others. By embracing the Five C's our military, civilians and their families help build a sense of belonging in communities which in turn leads to well-being, life balance and resilience for all. Care. By being good wingmen we willfully exhibit integrity, empathy and respect and what we choose to do or say. Respect up and down the chain of command is necessary especially important in our marriages, family relationships and professional relationships with each other. This builds momentum and initiative to act for the good of the organization, community and each other. Commit. And choosing to help others become their very best, lasting bonds are created. People who seek to do their part help unite everyone in a common mission, purpose or vision. By working collaboratively we build stronger communities that promote self-sufficiency and enhance mission readiness, retention and adaptation to the Air Force way of life. Connect. Connecting with others is instinctual human behavior but it doesn't happen by chance. It requires intentional effort from all parties in order for the connections to last. There are some skills needed to develop a relationship where all parties feel valued. Sometimes when a connection occurs you might have to engage repeatedly at multiple forms and venues before it becomes lasting. Eventually trust forms and the community comes together united for a purpose. Communicate. The way we express ourselves either verbally or in writing can have a profound effect on how our message is received and understood. Learning positive and proactive communication skills increases the chance of effectively connecting with others. Choosing the right method of communication good word choice and being an attentive listener increase the likelihood that the intended message will achieve its desired objective. Celebrate. Celebrating positive results and accomplishments shows appreciation for those around us. A good leader communicates expectations and provides constructive feedback thus providing an environment for growth and development. Recognition for and celebration of a team's achievements enforces positive behaviors and encourages commitment to the organization, mission and each other. Being a part of a community establishing a sense of belonging can help lift your spirits and ease your worries. As a member of the community you can also be a source of comfort for others as well. Here are some actions you can take to establish yourself as a part of a community and increase your support network. Get some exercise. Take an aerobics class at the gym or join a local sports league. These are good ways of meeting people while staying physically fit at the same time. Join a professional group or neighborhood organization. Get involved with a group that shares some of your personal interests. Volunteer. Get involved in a community service project. Clean up a local park or volunteer at a local school. Get a hobby. Find local people who share your interests and topics such as music, professional sports, cooking, books, etc. The five C's are a way to bring people together in order to create a community. When someone is experiencing distress, the community can assist them in bouncing back by offering support and encouragement, not just for the individual but for his or her family members as well. In this section, you were introduced to comprehensive fitness. You learned that the Total Force Fitness or TFF framework provided the kickstart to the holistic fitness culture movement. The CJCS wanted to expand the way we looked at fitness. It's more than just the physical aspect to include families, organizations, and communities. The Air Force developed the Comprehensive Airman Fitness Program or CAF supports the CJCS initiative. You covered the intent of CAF and the policy that dictates senior NCO responsibilities in the program. The CAF culture is aimed at promoting and strengthening resilience. To highlight the importance of resilience, you are presented with a stress continuum adapted from the Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control. Everyone experiences distress. How severe it is when a stressor itself, lost of a family member, or how long you've had to deal with it, multiple deployments with no significant time to recover. The continuum starts at the ready or green zone, your normal state, and ends at the point where distress is causing medical disorders, the ill or red zone. However, you learn some actions you can take to help your people in the zones with the goal being to return back to their normal state as soon as possible. Finally, you read that the five C's can also have an impact on an individual's resilience. They help create a sense of belonging, community, for military, civilians, and their families. So if someone is dealing with issues, the support of the community can help them get back to normal, become more resilient. Up to this point, you've covered CAF in a broad sense. Now let's use a narrower lens by looking at CAF's component parts, the domains of fitness. Domains of fitness. When your people are dealing with situations that begin to cause distress, how can you tell? Do you notice a change in the decisions they make? Do you see them begin to isolate themselves from others? Or does their adherence to the core values decline? They start to cut corners in the job or say or do unethical things. If you see these types of behaviors in your people, you're actually seeing indicators of declines in one or more domains of fitness. In other words, if you see these behaviors, your people are no longer comprehensively fit. As stated earlier, the more fit your people are, the more resilient they can be. So if they're experiencing problems in one or more fitness domains, the amount of time it takes them to bounce back to normal can be significantly slowed. Therefore, in order to embrace the CAF culture, you should ensure that you and your people are fit in all four domains. In this section, you'll cover the four domains of fitness, mental fitness, physical fitness, social fitness, and spiritual fitness. These domains form the CAF framework. Additionally, you'll cover the tenets, key characteristics in an individual that foster resilience associated with each domain. Uncontrolled or unaddressed distress can impact all four domains, but before we get started, let's take a quick look at the CAF framework. CAF framework. The CAF framework is broken down into four domains, mental, physical, social, and spiritual. In order to be comprehensively fit, you must be fit in all four domains. But the framework doesn't stop there. Each domain is built upon specific tenets, key characteristics that foster resilience in the associated domain. Finally, skillsets you learn through training, education, and experience, communication, mentoring, counseling, et cetera, help strengthen the tenets. When this occurs, the domain is reinforced. Once the domain is reinforced, your level of resilience improves. So the domains appear to have a three-tiered configuration. Let's break down the elements of the framework by taking a look at mental fitness first. Mental fitness. Mental fitness is the ability to effectively cope with unique mental stressors and challenges to ensure mission readiness. Our mental health affects how we think, feel, and act as we attempt to cope with stressors of life. Retaining mental fitness can be a challenge for anyone, especially in situations where distress is increasing or a stressor or demand is severe. To become resilient in this area of fitness, you should take a look at the following tenets and skillsets. Awareness. This tenant focuses on two areas, self-awareness and situational awareness. Self-awareness is broadly defined as the descriptions a person assigns to himself or herself. Self-awareness or labels can influence one's actual behavior positively or negatively. Motivation to initiate or disrupt activities and feelings about oneself. In other words, your beliefs about yourself can have an impact on your mental fitness. For example, in this course you learned about adapters and innovators in the AI theory chapter. Let's say one of your airman is more adaptive, and requires a more innovative solution. Since this is outside his preferred tendency, he might start to experience distress, attempting to cope by acting outside his normal preference. If he can't adapt to the tendency the situation requires, his level of distress can increase. If his inability to cope results in a failure, this could have a negative impact on how he sees himself. A negative self-image can reduce his level of mental fitness. Situational awareness is the knowledge of what's going on around you, accurately interpreting and attending to appropriate cues in the environment. Being fully aware of the world around you and the people functioning in it is an important part of mental fitness. But what if you're dealing with a significant stressor that's consuming all of your attention? You become less aware of what's going on around you. The stressor has become a set of blinders, with a peripheral view. This reduction in vision impacts your ability to concentrate and can impact how you cope with the stressor. In this course, you learned about the importance of self-awareness, not just for yourself, but for your people as well. Becoming more aware helps you understand how to relate to your people and also how certain environments impact your behavior. The more you understand about your labels and the labels of others, the more these deviations from your or their norms, enabling you to intervene before the stress becomes more severe. Adaptability AFI 36-2618 You should promote a culture of airmen capable of adapting to evolving Air Force requirements, enabling them to become more mentally fit and resilient. This tenant reflects your ability to adapt to changes associated with military life, including flexible roles within the family. The ability to adapt and respond under pressure are important attributes, especially when facing the challenges of today's evolving military force. If you're able to transition between situations with ease, you can help your subordinates do the same and increase their confidence in you as a leader. Adaptability is also an important aspect of leadership, since your people are experiencing changes as a result of the pressures internal and external that are constantly impacting our strategic environment. Your people are seeing changes in missions, job roles, and deployment schedules. The more adaptable your people are when faced with stressors created by change, the easier it becomes for them to adjust and cope. However, resilient airmen also need families that can adapt and cope as well. The life of a military family isn't as stable as a civilian family. The Air Force moves families and separates them as a result of deployments and unaccompanied assignments. According to the Department of Defense Education Activity, or DODEA, the average military child moves six to nine times during his or her school career. The multiple moves and separations can be a stressor that causes high levels of distress if the family isn't prepared and has a support system in place prior to these events taking place. Later on in this course, you'll learn more about adaptability and its relationship to managing change in your organization. You'll also learn skills such as how to deal with resistance to change and tools you can use to help your people become more adaptable. Critical thinking. If the decision is critical and you have the time, consider using system two, reflective thinking, in order to arrive at a decision. That way, you can reduce the chance that you make a reactive decision that might do more harm than good. Decision-making. This tenet of mental fitness involves thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors used for evaluating and choosing courses of action to solve a problem or reach a goal. Decision-making factors include problem-solving, goal-setting, adaptive thinking, and intuitive thinking. Good decision-making skills create a strong foundation for life and work. Being able to assess a situation, determine the desired outcome, and try to path to get there takes work and good judgment. Resilient airmen carefully assess several options before choosing the best. But, when faced with a stressor, you might make a hasty decision if the distress you're feeling isn't controlled. Consider this example. Master Sergeant Smith has been dealing with stressors associated with his professional and personal life. He's studying for promotion, two people in his work center just PCS'd, but he hasn't received any replacement yet. He's been tasked to lead a special high visibility project, and he hasn't had time to exercise lately. He has a fitness assessment in two months. At home, his wife lost her job, and they're struggling to pay the bills. A short notice deployment, tasking has come down, and Master Sergeant Smith has to make a decision on who should fill it. How effective do you think Master Sergeant Smith's decision will be? Will his decision be a reactive one, or a reflective one? As a result of the stressors that Master Sergeant Smith is dealing with, more than likely his decision will be a reactive one. At this point, his judgment might be impaired as a result of the distress he's experiencing which could cause the decisions he makes to be unreliable at this point. In order to strengthen this tenant, you should practice critical thinking skills as much as possible when you're in the ready zone. That way, if distress causes you to move down the stress continuum, you're more likely to stop and engage in reflective thinking, especially if the decision is a high stakes one. Positive thinking. The final tenant of mental fitness is positive thinking. This involves information processing, applying knowledge, and changing preferences through restructuring, positive reframing, making sense out of a situation, flexibility, re-appraisal, refocusing, having positive outcome expectations, a positive outlook, and psychological preparation. A mental and emotional attitude that focuses on positive results and the belief that you can overcome any obstacle can help you become more resilient. If you think you can achieve something, you're more likely to put in the work to get it done. According to the Mayo Clinic, positive thinking has health benefits and reduces stress, distress. It can lower rates of depression, increase psychological and physical well-being, result in better coping skills during hardships and times of stress. This doesn't mean all you have to do is think happy thoughts and everything will be okay. It requires purposeful effort to turn negative thoughts like I just missed a deadline, I'm such a screw up, to I just missed a deadline, maybe you should talk to my supervisor about my workload. It has been heavy lately. Your effort should include behaviors such as identifying areas you need to improve in, finding the humor in everyday situations, and even surrounding yourself with positive people. The easier it is for you to look at a situation with positivity, the easier it can be to handle the stressors and demands that, on the surface, don't appear to be so positive. Being able to see value in even the most negative situations can reduce your level of distress, enabling you to adapt and cope more effectively. Awareness, adaptability, decision-making, and positive thinking are all tenets that support the mental fitness domain. By practicing skills such as critical thinking, self-awareness, and flexibility, you're more likely to strengthen your mental fitness, making it easier for you to adapt your thinking and emotions to deal with stressors in a way that helps you return to your normal state quicker. While being resilient mentally can help you keep a clear mind when dealing with distress, the next fitness domain addresses how healthy behaviors can help you deal with distress as well. Physical fitness. Physical fitness is the ability to adopt and sustain healthy behaviors needed to enhance health and well-being. This domain is about more than just passing a fitness test. It's aimed at building and maintaining the level of readiness necessary to perform physical activities required to accomplish all aspects of the mission, while remaining healthy and reducing or avoiding injuries. The tenets that support this domain are endurance, nutrition, recovery, and strength. You can use the FIT principle when training for aerobic endurance. Frequency, three to five days per week. Intensity, 70 to 80% of maximum heart rate. Time, 30 to 60 minutes per session. Type, running, cycling, stepping, etc. Endurance. As a member of the profession of arms, you must be able to survive and operate in a wartime environment for extended periods of time before tiring out. This tenet encapsulates your body's ability to do just that. Continually accomplish the same task in repetitive fashion for as long as you can. Endurance is similar to stamina as the measure of how long your body can withstand physical demands or stressors. These stressors could include working long hours with very little time off or performing a physically demanding task, loading pallets, over and over again. In order to build your level of endurance, you should participate in aerobic activities such as jogging, swimming, etc. Engaging in activities to increase your level of endurance can help prepare you to accomplish physical demands easier and with less distress. These activities also contribute to a healthy cardiovascular system and can decrease effects of distress such as anxiety and depression. Recovery. Even a well-oiled machine needs a break sometimes and your body is no different. Recovery includes the practices you engage in that help to restore energy to your body and counterbalance stress that can result in adverse moods and or deteriorating performance. Don't confuse recovery with lying on the couch and watching TV for a whole day. Recovery is still an active process. Examples include participating in a yoga class, spending time playing with your children, reading, whatever activities you enjoy that not only give your body a break from physical stress but also gives you the opportunity to destress your mind. Without planning opportunities for recovery, physical stressors and demands may have a negative impact on your body, injuries, and mind. No time to just relax. Recovery can help you improve the quality of your decision-making and performance. Taking time to recharge also results in better endurance for the long haul. When your body is well rested, you're able to return to optimal levels of performance quicker than if you didn't have adequate rest. Finally, recovery allows you an opportunity to let off some steam by participating in activities you enjoy. Nutrition. Nutrition is the provision and consumption of food in quantities, quality, and proportions sufficient to promote optimal physical performance and protect the body against disease and or injury. Think of your body as a machine. In order for your machine to run efficiently and effectively, you need to put fuel in it. The type of fuel you use can determine how well your machine runs. If you put bad fuel in your machine, bad fats, too much sugar, etc., it won't run at peak performance. Proper nutrition is about eating a variety of foods to give your body the nutrients it needs to run at peak performance. It can improve your endurance and mental alertness. It's important to look at the labels on the foods you consume to see what the ingredients are. Simply counting calories isn't enough. Just because a food is low in calories doesn't mean it's nutritious. Additionally, skipping meals is counterproductive and can harm your machine. Not eating is equivalent to not putting fuel in your car. Eventually, your car will stop running. Therefore, no fuel for your body can also have the same effect. Eventually, your body will give out as well. Finding the right balance for your body should help you to feel healthy and energized, which allows your machine to perform optimally. Consider the following example. Airman DeVoe and Airman Wright are both members of your deployed team. Airman DeVoe is having a hard time adjusting to the environment. He's not able to keep up physically and is experiencing more distress as a result of the demands he's facing. Airman Wright is excelling, even though he's dealing with the same stressors and demands as Airman DeVoe. Why are they having different experiences? Let's take a look at what they eat and the results. Airman DeVoe eats mostly refined foods, mac and cheese, white rice, etc. Has red meat every day. 45% of calories are from fat. 50 teaspoons of sugar daily. Drinks mostly soda and juice. Outcome goes to sick call at least once a month. Has problems sleeping? Seems depressed often and can't keep up with the workload. Airman Wright eats fruits and vegetables regularly. Limits red meat to once a week, enjoys whole grain breads, monitors sugar intake daily, and drink lots of water. Outcome, higher energy levels, rarely gets sick, always in a good mood, and is more productive. Even though Airman DeVoe could have additional factors impacting his body and performance, there's no doubt that if he made some adjustments to what he eats and drinks, he could see some of the same benefits as Airman Wright. Therefore, this tenet can help keep your body properly fueled so you can handle demands and stressors without a major impact to your health and productivity. Strength. The final tenet in the physical fitness domain is strength. It's your ability to generate force and power, thus lowering the relative work that you do in order to complete desired objectives. This tenet is about using your muscles. Every move you make, every physical task you complete requires you to use your muscles. Whether that task is lifting equipment onto a truck for shipment, or picking up your child for a hug, your level of strength has an impact on how much you can lift, push, or pull. The stronger you are, the less impact these types of activities have on your body. Weak back muscles make it difficult for you to lift items and or result in back injuries. When you're in a situation that requires a certain level of strength, you should be certain your body can handle the load. However, increasing your level of strength isn't the only benefit of becoming muscularly stronger. Some people might believe the only benefit of strength training is the muscular physique, but that's not always the case. According to the Mayo Clinic, muscle mass helps increase your bone density, reducing your risk for osteoporosis, helps you manage your weight by increasing your metabolism, and can even sharpen your thinking skills. Consistent participation and physical fitness promotes your body's ability to work efficiently, while safeguarding you from illness and disease. Scheduling specific time to exercise in order to focus on your levels of endurance and strength, fueling your body with proper nutrition, and taking the time to recover, you'll most likely see an increase in your energy levels, a difference in the quality of sleep you're getting, and if working out in a group, an increase in your team's cohesion. These changes can help you deal with stressors in a more effective way, thus increasing your level of resilience. You might think that all you need in order to be resilient is a healthy mind and a healthy body. However, when you or your people are dealing with stressors that impact their readiness levels, sometimes being strong in the next domain can provide the support they need to get through the stressor and return to the ready zone faster than if they attempted to do so alone. Social fitness Does dealing with stress impact your personal and professional relationships? If so, then you may not be socially fit. This domain of fitness deals with your ability to engage in healthy social networks that promote overall well-being and optimal performance. It captures your ability to build and maintain social networks in order to deal with stress caused by stressors and demands. There are four tenets that support this domain. Communication, connectedness, social support, and teamwork. Communication Communication is the exchange of thoughts, opinions, or information including problem solving and relationship management. At this point in your career, you should already use effective communication skills active listening, public speaking, etc. as well as know and address barriers that can negatively impact communication. Timing, the environment, emotions, etc. The link between effective communication and leadership should be clear at this point. But are you aware that communication can impact your social fitness? Sometimes when people experience distress, they tend to be more reactive not thinking before speaking. If you are the leader and this is how you respond, the impact could be damaging to the mission. Your message isn't understood due to barriers or to the relationships being perceived as over critical. Therefore, in order to ensure you and your people can communicate effectively while dealing with distress, consider the following. Communicate in a confident, clear, calm, and respectful manner. Your people look to you for information and insight. You should be able to relay information in a way that keeps your people calm while providing the details they need. Respond to others with positive constructive feedback. Sometimes when you're feeling distress, you may tend to see only the negative. If something needs to be improved, communicate that in a way that is constructive. Remember, you are the leader. You should want to help your people handle stressors and help them overcome one for them. Encourage your people to come to you with their problems. Establish and maintain an open avenue for communicating ideas and problems. If they're dealing with an issue that could potentially turn into a problem, you want them to identify it early and feel comfortable sharing their opinions on how it can be addressed with you. Although communication as a skill is important to social fitness, you can also use communication as a tool to gauge your people's level of distress. For example, an increase in conflicts between individuals can be caused by communication breakdowns or misunderstandings. When the ops tempo is high, communication may get short. This could be perceived as an attitude problem or other interpersonal issue. A decrease in morale can be the result of a lack of information flow. Not having access to all the information you need to perform your job can be a stressor for some. The longer people operate in a communication vacuum, the greater the potential for distress, lowering overall morale. Changes in how often people communicate could also be an indicator of distress. When people that are very communicative stop talking, something has happened to impact their normal behavior. Something has pushed them out of the ready zone. How you and your people communicate could either enhance everyone's social fitness or hinder it. Ideally, you should want to create an environment where your people are comfortable engaging in communication. Connectedness Benefits of social connectedness improves physical health and mental and emotional well-being. Can lead to higher levels of self-esteem and greater empathy for others. Results in more trusting and cooperative relationships can lower levels of anxiety and depression. Sipala This tenet reflects the way in which people interact and come together. It accounts for the quality and number of connections we make with other people in our community and also represents connections we make with the place or people of that place. You've already covered the importance of connecting with those in your community when you learned about the five C's. However, when you're in a deployed environment, this tenet of social fitness takes on a different role. When deployed, your people should establish connections with other members of the profession of arms. This includes sister service members and military members from different countries. Establishing connections at this level helps to create a one team, one fight mentality. As a senior enlisted leader, you can help your people establish these connections by encouraging them to collaborate with others that provides an opportunity for everyone to get acquainted. Another type of connection your people should establish involves the people and culture of the country they're deployed to. Just going to work and going back home can result in feelings of loneliness and isolation. Let your people know that even though they're separated from their usual community, they have an opportunity to immerse themselves in another culture. Food, language, social practices, etc. To learn something new about the world, you'll cover more about the importance of culture later in the course. Social support. The type of support that a person receives from those around them and the feeling that they're truly cared for makes up the social support tenet of social fitness. Social support involves the perception that comfort is available from and can be provided to others. You can reduce stress and improve your emotional and physical well-being by having friends, family, coworkers, and mentors as a support network to rely on. Everyone deals with stress in different ways. However, having someone you trust to talk to and get advice from can help to alleviate being overwhelmed by a situation and reduce feelings of distress. Some people maintain the same social support network for their entire life while others make changes due to events such as a change in lifestyle, need for growth or a need for expert or specialized knowledge. Form your support network based on your needs and evaluate and adjust it as often as necessary. Help your people build their own networks through lessons learned from your own experience and or a diagnosis of their unique situation. Teamwork. The military relies heavily on teamwork to perform tasks and accomplish the overall mission. Other missions are too complex for just one person to execute all alone. Therefore, teamwork work coordinated among team members is an important tenet of social fitness. Throughout your career you've experienced teamwork. This isn't a new philosophy. However, connecting teamwork to an individual's overall social fitness and level of resilience might be. When an individual is dealing with job related stressors alone the pressure that person feels could be damaging. Sometimes the decision to work alone is a personal one. Some people just prefer it that way. However, regardless of individual preferences there comes a time when the workload becomes too much for one person to handle. This situation can create the stress and possibly impact the quality of the work that has to be performed. As a senior enlisted leader you should recognize the value of teamwork and use it as a tool to not only bring people together socially but also as a way to help take some of the burden off of task saturated teammates. Once your people know they can count on each other when they're in the weeds the level of distress caused by workload should decrease. Don't underestimate the value of social fitness. When your people are able to communicate effectively and without barriers job expectations are clearer and constructive feedback is more beneficial. When your people feel a sense of belonging connectedness to their military team and the culture they're immersed in the loneliness and isolation sometimes associated with deployments and assignments can be reduced. When your people have proper social support they can bounce back easier from distress by talking with people they trust who could provide a different perspective as well as a positive reinforcement. Finally the tenets of communication connectedness and social support are important elements of teamwork. The team can be a place where individuals are supported especially when the stressors associated with workloads become too much to handle. Your people should be able to count on one another. They should feel comfortable asking for help when mission related tasks become overwhelming. In the context of CAF social fitness isn't about how many people you know or who you go to lunch with. It's more about those people you can count on when the stress of life and career become too much. When you or your people start to move down the stress continuum out of your ready zone the people you can communicate with are connected to, receive support from and work together which can help you return to the ready zone faster than if you attempted to handle these stressors and demands by yourself. Up to this point you've covered being fit mentally physically and socially but there's one more domain left to cover the beliefs that center you in comfort when dealing with stress. Spiritual fitness Studies have found that veterans who have an active spiritual practice report fewer and less severe PTSD symptoms. Those who struggled in this area had more severe symptoms. Defense centers of excellence The final domain of the CAF framework focuses on your ability to adhere to beliefs, principles or values needed to persevere and prevail when accomplishing the mission. According to the defense centers of excellence spirituality is about meaning what's truly important in life to you. This meaning doesn't require a belief system rooted in religion although it can be. It can also be constructed from personal beliefs and past experiences. Regardless of the way you view spirituality spiritual fitness can have an impact on how you deal with distress and crisis contributing to your level of resilience. This domain is supported by the following tenets. Core values Perseverance Perspective and Purpose Core values Core values reflect the principles that guide organizational and personal internal conduct and its and your relationship with the external world. This tenet takes into account the Air Force core values and the individual values and belief systems of your people two unique value systems and organizational values. As an Airman you're charged to adopt and conduct yourself on and off duty according to the Air Force core values integrity first service before self and excellence in all we do. There are no exceptions or personal values that override these. There are a reflection of who we are fundamentally as members of the profession of arms. Our actions decisions and behaviors are in accord with the Air Force core values. As a senior enlisted leader your people expect this from you and in turn you should expect this from them. The Air Force core values can constitute a non-religious form of spirituality. They act as an anchor for all Airmen. They create a sense of meaning and identity. They have the foundation that trust and respect amongst Airmen is built upon. When experiencing distress the Air Force core values should guide your actions. They should remind you that even when the situation is stressful you have to possess the discipline to maintain the highest standards not cut corners when performing your job. They should empower you with courage to do the right thing even if the right thing isn't popular or what everyone else is doing. Finally, when stressors start to move you or your people out of the ready zone the Air Force core values should encourage you to be loyal to your leaders and help your people act with honor. While it should be clear that the Air Force core values are the guiding values you should default to you and your people may also have personal values and beliefs that provide a sense of strength when dealing with stressors. Personal values and beliefs When experiencing distress what do you tap into to center yourself to give you the extra strength you need to keep going? For some it may be a sense of hope that will eventually get better or a personal conviction to do your best regardless of the stressors and demands you're facing. For others it may simply be the need for preservation of self, family, community, etc. Our personal values and beliefs have been instilled in us over a long period of time. In some cases the values and beliefs we have were given to us by our families or other important people in our lives. As stated earlier our personal values and beliefs can't override or become more important than the Air Force core values. Hopefully they should enhance them. Personal values and beliefs can help form the framework for our attitudes and how we see and approach life in general. They are a reflection of what's important to us as individuals. Examples include I can make tomorrow better Failure isn't bad it's an opportunity for growth I am the master of my own destiny. The only person that can make me happy is me. All people have potential. Caution Personal values and beliefs are personal. Don't attempt to impose your values and beliefs on others. Core values and beliefs are an important aspect of spiritual fitness because they can provide a sense of inner strength. Our organizational and personal core values are useful when dealing with stressors that might appear to be insurmountable. They give us context and rules for our conduct. When used these sets of values and beliefs help us get through distress by focusing on principles that have been ingrained in us. They provide us with a sense of calmness in the face of chaos enabling us to complete the mission in an honorable way. Perseverance When you solve problems if not, what do you do next? What if your second solution doesn't work? Do you quit? In order to be spiritually fit you should also be persistent in your pursuit of a course of action purpose, state, etc. especially when faced with difficulties, obstacles or discouragement. In today's changing environment senior enlisted leaders have to solve problems mission related, people related and personal. Sometimes your first solution may not work even when you've done your due diligence to ensure you thought through the problem critically. Trying and failing over and over again can certainly cause distress in any individual. However, this tenet requires that you keep trying especially in the face of failure. Army General Martin Dempsey expressed the importance of perseverance at an Arizona State University graduation when he said when things don't work the first, the second, or even the 10th or 11th time, when there are setbacks and hardships, you persevere and learn. Due to the nature of the profession of arms airmen don't have the luxury of quitting. If we did missions could fail and lives could be lost. Therefore, perseverance in our profession is something that we should internalize. When dealing with difficult stressors and demands we should dig deep and keep going even if it means taking one small step at a time. Perspective Code of Conduct Article 2 I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist. In essence, I will persevere. This tenet of spiritual fitness represents how you view situations, facts, etc. and how you judge their relative importance, how you see things. Perspective requires you to pay attention to how you think about things, identifying the good and the bad of each situation. Practicing this tenet can help you accept things and situations as they are, let things go, especially those things you can't control and keep a positive focus. Failing to maintain perspective can have an impact on your overall well-being. Consider the following examples. Master Sergeant Wilder is deployed to a country he really doesn't want to be in. He's having a hard time adjusting, so he finds fault in everything, the weather, food, culture, etc. Master Sergeant Wilder is at the point where he's counting down the days until he can leave and he doesn't really care about anything else. His perspective has become a stressor. No matter what he experiences while deployed, he will judge it as negative. Therefore, he doesn't go out much, he spends most of his time by himself and he doesn't put much value on his job and the overall mission. He just wants to go home. Master Sergeant Richardson is deployed with Master Sergeant Wilder. Even though the conditions are harsh and she misses her family, she decides to try to find one positive thing about the deployment every day. She makes it a point to meet new people and tries to spend her time socializing as much as possible. Master Sergeant Richardson purchased a book about the country so she could relate to the local nationals that she works with. By talking with the locals, she discovered the difficult state their country is in and now understands why her mission is so important. Therefore, she makes an extra effort to do her job to the best of her ability all the time. Based on Master Sergeant Wilder's and Master Sergeant Richardson's perspective, who do you think will be more resilient if faced with adversity during the deployment? Definitely Master Sergeant Richardson. Unlike Master Sergeant Wilder, she has decided to make the best of her time there. Her perspective is positive. Master Sergeant Richardson's perspective has helped her get through the deployment in a healthy way. By choosing to be positive, she's meeting new people and learning new things. She even has a better understanding of the importance of her mission in the country. If Master Sergeant Richardson is faced with a stressor, her perspective can help her deal with it more effectively and make it easier for her to return to her ready zone. Because of Master Sergeant Wilder's negative perspective, his behaviors indicate that he's moving out of the ready zone into the reacting zone. He's isolating himself from others and can't even see the value in his mission. If he doesn't change his perspective, he might slip further into a state of distress. These two examples should highlight how your perspective can impact your fitness. This isn't about finding the good in everything. It's more about understanding how your perspective can help you prevail in undesirable conditions. Actor Chris Pine once said, the only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don't have control over your situation, but you have a choice about how you view it. In both examples, the senior NCOs don't have any control over how long they stay in the country. But by choosing to look at our situation with a different perspective, Master Sergeant Richardson does have control over her experience while in this situation. By changing the way you look at problems or stressors, you may be able to deal with them in a more productive way. Have you ever heard someone say, well, in the grand scheme of things, this isn't so bad. This is a good example of why perspective is a tenet of spiritual fitness. When you consider the grand scheme, bigger picture, circle of life, etc., sometimes the problems we face don't seem as big or world-ending. By keeping things in perspective, you can reduce the chances that mistakes and other related stressors take you out of the ready zone. Purpose The purpose of life is to contribute in some way to making things better. Senator Robert F. Kennedy The final tenet of this domain is purpose, the reason for which one exists. Another way to examine this tenet is to ask yourself, why did I get out of bed this morning? Or, how can I be at peace with myself? Of course, these are difficult questions to answer. Purpose can be seen as your calling. It's the personal reason why you do the things you do. Only you can figure it out. Although others can help provide guidance. Having a purpose can help you identify unique strengths and skills you can use to make your condition more effective. In Okinawan culture, your purpose or reason for being is called your Ikigai. Everyone has one, but finding it requires an individual to really reflect and understand himself or herself. Let's examine the concept of Ikigai with the following example. Master Sergeant Ford is a bit depressed. He is one month left until he retires and he still doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. He is feeling lost and confused. The Air Force has been his life for the past 20 years and now he is headed for a big change. His purpose in life had been centered on being an airman and member of the profession of arms. But since his time in uniform is coming to an end, he needs to find purpose in his life. So, Master Sergeant Ford works through the Ikigai. What do you love to do? What are you passionate about? Master Sergeant Ford was an NCO Academy instructor. He absolutely loved helping his students understand how to become better leaders. He even volunteered to lead training sessions for new instructors. What does the world need? Master Sergeant Ford grew up in a poor environment where the school system didn't promote the importance of learning. Many of his teachers didn't even care if students came to school or did their work. In one of his college classes, in the world countries, education is something that only the rich and privileged children get. Therefore, he decides that the world needs passionate educators. What can you be paid for doing? Master Sergeant Ford has two children, one in high school and one in elementary school. Therefore, he still has financial obligations he has to meet. Whatever his purpose in life is, it has to be one that can help him continue to take care of his children. What are you good at doing? Master Sergeant Ford has always been a mentor to younger airmen, providing guidance to help them in their careers. He has excellent verbal and writing skills, not to mention his outstanding interpersonal skills. So, if you put all of Master Sergeant Ford's information together, it can be read like this. Master Sergeant Ford is passionate about helping people become better leaders through education, especially since based on his own personal and educational experiences, passionate educators are a rarity today. As a result of his mentoring, communication and interpersonal skills, he can certainly find a job as a teacher, coach, etc. The answers to these four questions have identified that something Master Sergeant Ford loves to do is something the world needs and he's good enough at it to get paid doing it. Since he's getting ready to retire, how do you think identifying his purpose will impact him? The answer to this question is the whole point about purpose and resilience. A sense of purpose doing something you felt like you were put on this earth to do can impact your well-being. According to the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing, purpose can have an impact on your health. It can, among other things, help you handle pain better and have better relationships. People with purpose tend to be more optimistic and engaged with family, co-workers, and or the community in general. Additionally, having a purpose can increase your connection to and ownership of the mission, which can help you inspire others to feel like they're also a part of the team. As a senior enlisted leader, the spiritual domain can be one of the most difficult of the domains to diagnose and offer assistance. However, the United States Navy Chaplain Corps has developed a spiritual fitness guide to help service members consider their spiritual condition. The following is a brief version of the guide linked to the tenets of spiritual fitness. If you are fit, some potential indicators include being engaged in life's meaning and purpose. Hopeful about life and the future. Perspective. Determined to face demanding situations. Perseverance. Anchored by core values and beliefs. Core values. If you are stressed, some potential indicators include neglects life's purpose and meaning. Purpose. Less hopeful about life and the future. Perspective. Doubtful of the ability to face demanding situations. Perseverance. Strays temporarily from core values and beliefs. Core values. If you are depleted, some potential indicators are loses a sense of life's meaning and purpose. Purpose. Holds very little hope about life and the future. Perspective. Freezes when faced with demanding situations. Perseverance. Disregards some core values and beliefs. Core values. If you are drained, some potential indicators are feels like life has no meaning or purpose. Purpose. Holds no hope about life and the future. Perspective. Gives up when faced with demanding situations. Perseverance. Abandons all core values and beliefs. Core values. As you can see, the more demanding the stressors or distress we experience, the harder it becomes to hold on to those elements of spiritual fitness that ground us. In order to become more resilient, you should encourage your people to focus on the tenets of core values, perseverance, perspective, and purpose. These are the elements they should rely on when faced with difficult situations. These are the factors at our core that help us persevere and prevail in order to accomplish the mission effectively and honorably. In this section, you cover the comprehensive airman fitness domains of fitness. You learned about the mental fitness domain that focuses on your ability to cope with mental stressors. The physical fitness domain that covers your ability to practice healthy behaviors in order to reduce your chances of experiencing damage to the body caused by distress. The social fitness domain that centers on engaging in social networks to help promote optimal performance. And the spiritual fitness domain that should anchor you through tough times if you adhere to your values and beliefs. Each domain of fitness is supported by important tenets necessary to create healthy, capable, confident, and empowered airmen that are both physically fit and mentally sharp. It's important to remember that each domain isn't meant to function as a checklist of accomplishments for the week or month. Encourage your airmen to evaluate themselves every day. The key to comprehensive fitness is balance. Being unfit in one of the four domains will result in instability of the entire airman. The comprehensive airman fitness framework can help you identify when your people are experiencing difficulties caused by distress as well as how to get them moving back to their ready zone. It's a culture change that focuses on keeping your people, their families, and the entire community healthy and resilient. The faster your people can bounce back the more resilient they are, the easier it can become for them to handle stressors in the future. Supporting the culture of holistic fitness helps meet the comprehensive airman fitness goal of developing high-performing airmen and families capable of persevering through life's challenges. The final section in this chapter is dedicated to learning about the impact that the comprehensive airman fitness framework, Domains of Fitness, can have on your subordinates, you, and your mission. Impact of comprehensive fitness. Here is the deal. You can only be as amazing as you let yourself be. Incorporating comprehensive fitness elements as outlined in the four domains and assisting members of your organization to do the same will help you and your airman be better prepared to deal with the stressors in life and enhance execution of the Air Force mission. Comprehensive fitness not only provides members with the ability to fulfill the mission, it also supplies you with the tenets necessary to keep your mind, body, spirit, and soul on track. By identifying stressors and working to correct them while they are still manageable will help you better recover and implement a plan for long term effectiveness. Subordinate effectiveness. Many times subordinates are looking to senior leaders for an easy answer to provide a quick fix for issues they are facing. Comprehensive fitness does not have a checklist of items for them to follow to be successful since it is based on the needs of the individual person. To truly embody the airman culture senior NCOs should strive to achieve high levels of organizational performance in the success of the whole group and not just a single person. Air Force Instruction 36-2618 the enlisted force structure in paragraph 5.1.11 says it is in senior NCOs responsibility to promote a culture of airman capable of adapting to evolving Air Force requirements throughout a career. As a senior NCO you must understand and develop a strong foundation in the four domains of comprehensive airman fitness to foster leadership skills necessary to develop and inspire others to do the same. By doing this you can facilitate and guide others to be resilient to changes they will face. AFI 36-2618 in paragraph 5.1.13 also says senior NCOs must promote responsible behaviors within all airmen readily detect and correct unsafe and or irresponsible behaviors that negatively impact unit or individual readiness promote peer involvement in detecting and correcting unsafe and irresponsible behaviors. It takes an active role on your part to let your subordinates, peers and leadership know that it takes a balanced combination of mental, physical, social and spiritual fitness to be a well-rounded and effective airman in today's Air Force. If one of the domains is missing it makes the entire structure unstable and will cause you to not be able to fulfill mission requirements. Today's airmen are required to be more than just members of the Air Force. They are asked to be wingmen, leaders and warriors. A strong foundation in the four domains will help you to fulfill these roles and provide support to those around you both in their professional life and on the home front. An organization that promotes comprehensive fitness strategies at all levels may produce benefits both for subordinates and their families as well as the organization as a whole. How is it that subordinates benefit from it? For your people being able to identify their beliefs, values and vision to plan for success while eliminating barriers will help them to better deal with the demands of the work day, family responsibility, additional duties, community involvement and other social obligations. Helping your people to establish a clear vision, set goals and celebrate success will help them to better able incorporate comprehensive fitness into their everyday lifestyle. Senior NCO effectiveness. When you, as a senior NCO apply comprehensive fitness concepts appropriately within your unit it will be from a leadership and management standpoint. AFI 36-2618 the enlisted force structure in paragraph 5.1.10 says senior NCOs attain and maintain excellent physical conditioning always meet Air Force fitness standards and set a positive example for subordinates. Lead the way by promoting, supporting and participating in unit physical training activities and the Air Force fitness program. Incorporate physical training into their duty schedule as the mission allows. Furthermore Air Force manual 36-2647 Institutional competency development and management says senior NCOs are responsible to evaluate options, plans or programs and select appropriate actions, solutions and resources when confronted with the personnel problem or situation emotional, physical, spiritual and social. You must lead and take care of your people by recognizing and differentiating between the emotional physical, spiritual and social states of Airmen their families and others in your unit by genuinely caring and being actively involved. Being able to identify when Airmen are in need of assistance and identify sources of basic support is the key to incorporating a successful comprehensive fitness program into your unit. At the senior NCO level you need to recognize the skills required in leading personnel to include the training and development of subordinates and understanding of standards and service culture and the various stresses that impact the force. AFI 36-2618 the enlisted force structure in paragraph 5.1.9 says senior NCOs clearly meet and strive to exceed the standards and expectations levied upon all junior enlisted Airmen and NCOs. Epitomize excellence, professionalism, pride and competence serving as a role model for all Airmen to emulate. You can set your unit up for success by comprehending the importance of the ability to anticipate, communicate and mitigate risks. An easy way to do this is by viewing the elements of comprehensive fitness as a lifestyle change much like the Air Force is a culture of life and not just a job. Mission effectiveness Organizations can benefit from comprehensive fitness programs by fostering collaborative relationships that help to build effective teams for goal and mission accomplishment improve team performance and develop direction, roles and responsibilities. AFI 36-2618 the enlisted force structure in paragraph 5.1.1 says senior NCOs provide highly effective leadership. A senior NCO's primary purpose is mission accomplishment. They must lead and manage teams while maintaining the highest level of readiness to ensure mission success. If all team members are performing at peak levels the team will function at high quality levels and may boost unit morale. If a member of the team is not coping well with the stressful event they could be careless and forgetful as a whole less productive and less in morale of the other members. Assisting the member and correcting the issue that is affecting them will improve their well-being and get them back to the high functioning level. The main goal of a unit is for all members to be mission ready and focused at all times. In order to do this we must take care of our people so they can take care of the mission. Unit and wing commanders can use comprehensive fitness programs to keep high quality personnel performing at the best and maintain unit productivity. In this era of developmental special duty where airmen are being vectored into special duty positions which may be outside of their comfort zone providing them with the resources to achieve mental, physical, social and spiritual well-being will keep high caliber men and women available to fulfill those roles. Summary This chapter began with an introduction to comprehensive fitness. You learned about the CJCS Total Force Fitness TFF framework and its goal to provide holistically based approaches that promote resilience. You also learned early in this chapter that the focus on fitness isn't just about your airmen. It's about their families and communities as well. You then read about the Comprehensive Airmen Fitness Framework or CAF. The CAF framework lines up with the TFF framework by focusing on a holistic fitness culture that enhances resilience. Then you learned more about the concept of resilience and how it relates to the Navy's stress continuum model. The four zones, ready, reacting, injured and ill, reflects the impact distress can have on your people especially if the stress was causing the distress aren't addressed. One of the ways you can help your people with distress is with the five C's located in the AETC CAF Con Ops. The five C's help create a sense of belonging for your people that can have positive effects on their well-being life balance and resilience. Next, you dissected the CAF framework by covering each of the domains of fitness mental, social, physical and spiritual. In order to be considered comprehensively fit you should be strong in all four domains. Stress is something we all experience, sometimes on a daily basis. However as a senior enlisted leader you should ensure your people are capable of operating in stressful environments that they can cope and adapt to the stressors and return to their normal state as quickly as possible. They need to be resilient. They need to be comprehensively fit. So the next time your people are operating under stress and you notice behaviors such as poor decision making self-isolation increases in conflict and minimal teamwork, you'll know exactly how to start your troubleshooting efforts. CAF and its four domains of fitness. Key Terms Comprehensive Airmen Fitness Page 5 CAF Framework Page 11 5 Cs Page 10 Health Page 3 Mental Fitness Page 12 Physical Fitness Social Fitness Page 17 Spiritual Fitness Page 20 Stress Continuum Page 7 Total Force Fitness Page 3 TFF Framework Page 3 Well-Being Page 3