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Resilience training helps Airmen "bounce forward"

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Krystie Martinez
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan --  Deployments come with many stressors, some more difficult than others. The ability to persevere in the face of adversity, and stay positive are resilience skills that can help people grow during deployments and throughout life.

Transit Center service members now have a new resilience training course that is geared to help them "bounce forward" when dealing with difficult situations. The course kicked off Oct. 17. and will be held at the chapel annex.

The training includes 11 different lessons covering over 15 different "tools" that aim at strengthening the four domains of comprehensive Airman fitness: mental, social, physical and spiritual.

Broken up into six, two-hour sessions over the course of six weeks, the instructors make it possible to complete the full course during most deployments.

"Resilience training basically looks at every aspect of an Airman, and how that person deals with particular problems that come up in life," said Master Sgt. Shawn Leach, 376 Air Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, Emergency Management flight chief and master resilience trainer. "Whether it's communication, or how an Airmen deals with certain situations, and especially in the face of adversity."

The goal of the training is to teach positive growth no matter what the obstacle, said Leach, a native of Arcadia, Neb., deployed from Royal Air Force Alconbury, England.

The training was created by the Army then adopted and modified by the Air Force, said Capt. John Nussbaum, 376 ECES, construction management officer and MRT. Used in high stress situations by Navy SEALS and Olympic athletes, the training is scientifically proven to work, he said.

"The methods have credibility and are being used in tactical situations by people that everyone in the military looks up to," said Nussbaum who is deployed from RAF Mildenhall, England, and a native of Lubbock, Texas. "The new Air Force Resilience Training we're standing up at TCM is, in essence, a workout program for your toughness. It's about endurance, recovery and performance improvement. We're giving step-by-step instructions and tools to bolster Airmen's resilience and creating a universal language they can use to help each other champion their stressors and challenges."

Maj. Kelly Boehm, 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, Staff Judge Advocate, deployed from Joint Base Andrews, Md., attended the first of the six courses here.

"I really enjoyed the resilience training," said the Pace, Fla. native. "Capt. Nussbaum and Master Sgt. Leach did a great job teaching the group how to listen better and provide active constructive responding. Though this type of response can be difficult and exhausting, it is imperative to learn how to do it well to let people I care about know that I am interested in what they tell me. Knowing and being able to provide this kind of response will help strengthen personal relationships in the future, which is something I think all people can benefit from."

Although the training is making its way throughout the Air Force and is being taught in a single eight-hour block to first-term Airmen, it's not necessary to attend all the courses here, for now. However, for those who decide to complete all the classes, they will receive a training certificate, which may be a mandatory requirement in the future for all Airmen.

Contact Master Sgt. Gregory Gifford at gregory.gifford@maab.afcent.af.mil to sign up for the course and click here for the schedule.