How this Army unit’s new program is driving down bad behavior
By Todd South
Oct 16, 11:48 AM
One of the harder puzzles to solve with the Army’s new approach to total fitness is how to improve spiritual fitness or identify a soldier’s sense of meaning or purpose in their work.
That “meaning” factor, leaders and social scientists say, drives how soldiers see their jobs, and their place in a unit and helps build cohesive teams — a major initiative for the service’s new chief and sergeant major. It’s also one of the pillars of the Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness program. The program focuses on physical, mental, nutritional, sleep and spiritual health. The spiritual part can mean religion for some, but often translates to higher purpose, meaning, or why you do what you do and why it matters, experts said.
Paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade may have found methods that help soldiers find their “why” and build good teams in the process. Early data shows that soldiers enrolled in the “Tough in Spirit” program also showed lower reported numbers of behavioral incidents, participating units saw reductions in alcohol-related problems, sexual assaults and other infractions.
The data showed a 60% decrease in sexual assault reports, a 53% decrease in soldiers approaching chaplains for bad counseling incidents and an 83% reduction in the chance that a soldier will generate a Soldier Incident Report, Kloepper said.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2023/10/16/how-this-army-units-new-program-is-driving-down-bad-behavior/
