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JBSA News
NEWS | April 17, 2018

U.S. Army North hosts resiliency event at Fort Sam Houston Theater

By Staff Sgt. Tomora Nance U.S. Army North Public Affairs

There are many things that can be viewed as setbacks or obstacles, whether at work or at home for some Soldiers.

 

Having resiliency skills is an important key to being successful for many, not only in the military, but in personal relationships as well. Improving those resiliency skills is what attendees learned during the recent resiliency event.

 

U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) hosted Col. Deydre Teyhen as part of the Army’s ongoing Ready and Resilient campaign at the Fort Sam Houston Theater at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston April 13.

 

Before introducing the guest speaker, Lt. Gen. Jeffery Buchanan, commander, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army), spoke on the importance of having resiliency skills.

 

“We are all going to have challenges in our life, no matter who you are; you are going to face challenges,” Buchanan said. “Resiliency, to me, is about how you bounce back from those challenges, and if we properly prepare ourselves. We can then use those challenges as an opportunity for growth, rather than a price that causes us to retreat.”

 

“I think Gen. Buchanan’s focus on resiliency of the total Army family is important,” Teyhen said. “When senior leaders support the resiliency program, it allows Soldiers and families the freedom to use the resources available to them like the Vogel Resiliency Center. Leadership buy-in on resiliency helps separate any stigmas associated with seeking help.”

 

The Vogel Resiliency Center, or VRC, is a project that brings together eight entities of resiliency services into one central location. This facility is unique to JBSA-Fort Sam Houston and the Army.

 

“The VRC is the best facility that I’ve seen in Army. The colocation of all of the resources that are dedicated to holistic health and fitness in one center is brilliant,” Teyhen said. “It allows service members and their families to know they have one place to go no matter what their struggling with in their life.”

 

Teyhen, the commander of U.S. Army Health Clinic-Schofield Barracks in Hawai’i, took to the stage and talked to Soldiers and Department of Defense civilians about the importance of health promotion in the areas of sleep, activity and nutrition, which is known as the Army’s Performance Triad.

 

Resiliency is a skill that transcends both the work and personal environment. Being a resilient Soldier gives you the ability to bounce back from any adversity,” Teyhen said. “The Performance Triad is one of many ways to help the force stay resilient.”

 

Teyhen played a key part in developing the Army’s Performance Triad because of her medical background and research, which focused on injury prevention and rehabilitation with a special emphasis on Soldier health and medical readiness.

 

“The beauty of the Performance Triad target is designed to improve your cognitive performance, your emotional resilience and your physical fitness,” Teyhen said. “Everyone approaches the Performance Triad differently; it needs to be tailored to your needs and your personal goals but the fundamentals are the same for everyone.”

 

During the event, Teyhen discussed one way Soldiers can remain active even when their job might be behind a computer.

 

“One rule of thumb: for every hour that you sit, you should get up and move for about 10 minutes by just walking around. You actually will improve your productivity rather than decrease it,” Teyhen said. “Sometimes people think that if they get up and move, then they don’t have as much time to knock out their tasks. What they find is when they come back after moving around is they are much more productive.”

 

As the resiliency event came to a close, Teyhen took questions from the audience.

 

“I think today resiliency event went really well. The types of questions that were asked reminds all of us that health is personal. What works for some may not work for others,” Teyhen said.

 

“I think Col. Teyhen did an amazing job in explaining the how the Performance Triad should be used by all Soldiers to increase resiliency and productivity,’ said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Cogborn, an operating room specialist with Company A at Brooke Army Medical Center.

 

“I learned a lot from the information she presented, and I especially enjoyed her holistic approach on living healthy,” Cogborn added. “I would definitely take all of the information that I received at this event back to my Soldiers, so they can work on improving themselves.”