FORT EUSTIS, Va. –
The Army Readiness and Resilience Campaign Plan received a shot-in-the-arm when Col. Mark Thompson, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Surgeon, played host to 14 installations here for a strategic training event Jan. 22-25. The purpose of the training event was to provide TRADOC installation Community Readiness and Resiliency Integrators additional training on managing their Senior Commander’s Community Ready and Resilient Councils.
Fifteen Department of the Army Civilians and military officers, in the positions of Community R2 Integrators, attended the event to sharpen their skills for the military communities they serve.
As part of the training, attendees were challenged to address several public health issues such as stigma to behavioral health, increases in medical readiness, addressing Family and Civilian Wellness, and Soldier risks as part of managing the Community R2 Council efforts.
“I think the biggest training take-away for me was being able to have something I will be able to implement as soon as I get back to the installation,” said Katina Oats, Fort Lee, Virginia, CR2I and Suicide Prevention Program Manager. Oats went on to say that the training provided her the ability to facilitate the CR2C as a decisional-making brief for commanders and senior leaders on the installation.
Lt. Col. Arjean Smith, Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, said she learned they have a lot of work to do once they return. “The training helped me to understand how to incorporate the models, trackers, strategic plans and available resources (both on and off the installation) into a comprehensive actionable plan to improve the overall readiness of the community.”
The training was provided by the TRADOC Surgeon’s Office with assistance from the U.S. Army Public Health Center, the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, and Department of the Army G-1 Army Resiliency Directorate. The CR2Is attending also provided a brief on their current and future council efforts, best practices and lessons learned, as part of the training.
“I think the importance of this training focused on being able to bring the community coalition together based on trends analysis to allow senior leaders to make decisions to improve readiness throughout the community,” said Maj. Davin Bridges, TRADOC Surgeon executive officer, who led the course section on what senior leaders want to know.
Other highlights included presenting work group action plans as part of a simulated exercise brief on readiness strategies. Representatives from IMCOM presented updates to the Army’s Risk Reduction tool, with plans to better integrate risk data efforts in the council process and the way forward for additional CR2I training.