{"id":22087,"date":"2020-09-30T19:53:17","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T19:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/30\/citing-13-brigades-worth-of-non-deployable-troops-army-looks-to-holistic-health-solutions\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:06:46","slug":"citing-13-brigades-worth-of-non-deployable-troops-army-looks-to-holistic-health-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/2020\/09\/30\/citing-13-brigades-worth-of-non-deployable-troops-army-looks-to-holistic-health-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Citing 13 brigades-worth of non-deployable troops, Army looks to holistic health solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A surprising number of soldiers are on temporary and permanent medical profiles, preventing them from fully performing their duties. But a new health and fitness program, which will begin arriving to 28 brigades in fiscal 2021, is intended to curb those numbers over the long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of April, more than 58,000 soldiers \u2014 the equivalent of 13 brigade combat teams \u2014 were non-deployable, with 16,500 soldiers on temporary profile and 15,000 soldiers on permanent profile, according to a concept paper for the Holistic Health and Fitness <\/a>system, or H2F, shared with Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H2F looks to tackle chronic problems among soldiers, including poor sleep habits, obesity and overuse injuries. The concept paper argues that even a 10 percent reduction in annual musculoskeletal injuries<\/a> would add a full brigade combat team of personnel back to the deployable force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some elements of H2F will be familiar to soldiers, even those who didn\u2019t participate in the pilot program that began in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For each brigade-sized unit, there are expected to be dietitians, cognitive performance experts, occupational therapists and athletic trainers, as well as 40,000 square feet of dedicated space to train troops and treat injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of those resources already exist on post, but currently they\u2019re \u201cstovepiped\u201d on each installation, according to Maj. Gen. Lonnie G. Hibbard, commanding general of the Army\u2019s Center for Initial Military Training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do with H2F is bring all that under a single governance,\u201d Hibbard said during a telephone interview Tuesday. \u201cReally, all of it under a brigade commander so he has his slice, so he can now integrate the five components of fitness<\/a> onto the training schedule, just like we do for a piece of equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those components are: body composition, flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A rendering of Zone 2 in a proposed Soldier Performance Readiness Center shows multiple stations where soldiers can build strength and endurance.\n(Credit: U.S. Army\/Ross Allen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hibbard, whose command is the proponent for H2F, framed the program as one that prioritizes physical and mental fitness in the same way the Army prioritizes gear maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, we spend a lot of time on our schedule synchronizing maintenance and training,\u201d Hibbard added. \u201cNow we can synchronize, at the brigade level, personal readiness and health with training.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-eight brigades in the operational force will be the first to receive H2F resources. And though it starts in 2021, it will take time to hire the necessary professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe goal is, by the end of the fiscal year, all 28 brigades will have their professionals that are necessary,\u201d Hibbard said. \u201cThen next year, we hire 18 brigades-worth and then we start including the training base from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative does call for some investment in resources, including the construction of more than 100 facilities over the next four years, according to federal contracts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t