Winter 2023 - 29

to help every soldier without
hindrance.
TT&C: Have you noticed a
change in the brigade's fitness
culture with H2F?
MT: Yes. There is a long list of
things that can be aggregated
to show a great impact, but one
statistic we have been tracking
since the beginning of our H2F program is foottraffic
through our building. In the first weeks
of the program, traffic through our building was
under 500 soldiers a month. Today we average
over 2,000 a month through that same building,
but the exciting part is that we now function
out of six different buildings! Our total soldier
face-to-face contacts in all buildings as a team
easily exceed 5,000 a month, which is even
more impressive when you consider our brigade
consists of less than 3,000 Soldiers in total.
Like I say if you want to find the honey, follow
the bees! If we weren't having a positive impact
on the Soldiers they wouldn't keep coming in. We
also have the National Guard, Army Reserves,
local universities, and division units reaching out
to us quite regularly.
TT&C: Have you seen an increase or
improvement in individual Soldier readiness as
a result of the H2F Performance Team?
MT: Individual soldier connection is the
fundamental trait that welds H2F into the hearts
and minds of the brigade. We have seen a
soldier with severe tremors go from being
unable to get out of bed in the morning without
assistance to lifting heavy weights and ruck
marching. One soldier suffered a catastrophic
injury, only to be rehabilitated by H2F and later
set Pennsylvania state powerlifting records. We
also had several soldiers seek out H2F because
of severe depression and feelings of self-harm,
rise above that struggle, and find renewed joy
and purpose through H2F and their friendships
with H2F team members.
TT&C: What are some of the challenges your
team has faced?
MT: One challenge that faces a lot of
teams across the Army relates to building a
unified H2F program. Many team members
are young in the profession and are learning
to collaborate not only with the soldiers, but
also with each other. We were successful by
deliberately establishing an official H2F team
culture. Have a written vision statement,
mission statement, motto, coaching principles/
standards, and a true and defining logo that
represents the team. All of this gives our team
a foundation or " common language " from
which we can bond and create a unique culture
that inspires and directs our team members
and gives the soldiers something to hold us
accountable to.
TT&C: Any lessons learned on how units
can best utilize the SMEs on their H2F
Performance Teams?
MT: Units should meet with their H2F Director
and team leads and see what they can build for
H2F, and most importantly learn to really prioritize
physical training by scheduling unit PT with H2F
strength coaches outside of the 0630-0800
window. Only then will culture really begin to
change for the better. n
tacticaltrainingandconditioning.com | 29
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Winter 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winter 2023
