Orlando, Fla. –
Two weeks of mission
essential fitness training in Orlando, Fla., empowering briefs from Army leaders,
and life skills activities have prepared the attendees of the 2015 Better
Opportunities for Single Soldiers Future Leader Training, to revitalize their
BOSS programs at their duty stations.
Sgt. Maj. Michael
Hatfield, from the G9 Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation of U.S. Army
Installation Management Command at Fort Sam Houston, focused the forum sessions
on life skills, a layer in the BOSS program’s quality of life pillar.
“If you look at the
new Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Mark A. Milley’s message, it is all about
readiness,” he said.
“At the forum, we
focused on ‘life skills’ training,” Hatfield said. “Building life skills and
resiliency into all aspects of our Soldier’s lives gives us a stronger, more
versatile Army.”
Garrison command
sergeant majors and Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation BOSS program
advisors joined the Soldiers at the training forums to cement their peer-to-peer
and mentorship relationships.
“This training is
about having command sergeant majors, BOSS presidents and the MWR advisors all working
together, pushing each other and building camaraderie,” said Hatfield.
Command sergeant
majors and MWR advisors worked alongside the enlisted soldiers and junior NCOs
in everything from team building activities and classroom lectures to early
morning physical training sessions conducted by Command Sgt. Maj. John W.
Troxell of U.S. Forces Korea.
“My fitness program
is physically, mentally and emotionally hard. It’s all about advanced
functional fitness,” Troxell said. “We saturated the BOSS representatives with
as much total force fitness as we could.”
“These Soldiers are coming back to your
installations trained and prepared to be an asset to your command, so utilize
them,” he said.
Sgt.
Jimmy Chavez, BOSS president for the IMCOM Pacific Region, already noticed
remarkable changes in the program as he transitioned from a representative to
the president.
“When
I first joined the program in 2011, it was not what it is today. The program
was centrally revolved around the traveling, recreation and leisure,” he said.
Now
that the program encompasses all the pillars such as quality of life and
community service, Chavez has noticed a positive effect on the quality of life
and morale of the Soldiers in his unit.
In addition to life
skills activities, the forum attendees had the unique opportunity to engage
with Army senior leaders including Command Sgt. Maj. Rodney D. Harris of U.S.
Army Cyber Command, Command Sgt. Maj. Scott C. Schroeder of U.S. Army Forces
Command, retired Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack L. Tilley and current Sgt. Maj. of
the Army Daniel A. Dailey.
For the Soldiers, it
was a rare experience to talk one-on-one with the leaders and ask them
questions. For the leaders, it was a personal opportunity to express their
support for the BOSS program.
“We
cannot do our mission without recognizing the service and sacrifices of our young
Soldiers,” Dailey said during the forum’s closing day.
For more information
about the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program, visit
http://www.armymwr.com/recleisure/single/boss.aspx.