TOP STORY >>Comprehensive Airman Fitness Part 2: How does it apply to me?

By Capt. Mandy McCorkindale
Staff Psychologist, Little Rock AFB

(Author’s note: This article is a continuation from an article in last week’s Combat Airlifter about Air Mobility Command’s Comprehensive Airman Fitness philosophy. CAF is “a philosophy and approach to taking care of people; not a program. It establishes a framework to increase individual and organizational resilience.” The goals of CAF are to create and strengthen a community of fit and resilient Airmen, civilians, and families by enhancing their overall well-being. CAF’s approach to accomplishing these goals is to focus on four core areas of a person’s life: their mental well-being, their social life and activities, their physical health, and their spirituality, which are referred to as the Mental, Social, Physical, and Spiritual “Pillars.”)

In last week’s article, I introduced myself and explained the CAF program as outlined by AMC. In case you missed that article, I should let you know that I am a staff psychologist who was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base around the same time the CAF program was initiated. I was tasked with implementing it on base, although I was somewhat skeptical of the usefulness of the approach initially. After learning about the philosophy, I had several questions:

What does this all mean to me? How does this Comprehensive Airman Fitness philosophy get carried out? Where am I seeing this happening? In pondering this question, I found myself thinking about several patients I have had over the past year, and one case in particular stood out. After receiving his permission, I would like to tell you just a little about his situation. This gentleman, who I’ll call Paul, was first seen by me as referred by his physician. He was experiencing multiple medical problems, including shoulder and back pain, arthritis, high blood pressure, and thyroid disease. He was in his mid-40s and had failed a few physical fitness tests, and he was on a profile, limiting him to walking and waist measurement only. He was overweight, anxious, and depressed, but he had a lot at stake in keeping his career. Paul has a special needs daughter, and he could not risk losing his medical coverage. Naturally, as a result of all of these stressors in his life and his feelings of, as he put it, “losing control,” Paul was also struggling with some relationship problems.

Initially, Paul and I worked on clarifying his goals, identifying how he was thinking about various aspects of his life, and recognizing his past successes at behavior change. Paul had already accomplished one of the most difficult tasks most people face, quitting smoking, and we drew strength from that experience in helping him to become more confident in changes he could make in other areas of his life.

At the same time I was seeing Paul, his commander was also addressing the PT failures. Fortunately for Paul, he had a supportive Commander and a job that was flexible enough that he was able to enroll in the “Shock and Awe” program through the Health and Wellness Center. With the help and encouragement of the HAWC staff, Paul learned ways to exercise twice a day that did not complicate his existing injuries and pain. However, don’t get me wrong…. Paul experienced some serious pain in order to gain! In therapy he was able to explore the benefits and barriers of this program and to clarify his values, which enabled him to find the strength inside himself to get up every day and keep going back for more. Paul interacted with people in the fitness program, and he found support and education through his weekly meetings with the dietician at the HAWC. This, as well as the support he received from his unit, helped him to have a sense of belongingness. As he lost weight, people would tell him, “Wow, Paul! You look great!” which helped to strengthen those social bonds and improve his self-esteem.

In Paul’s words: “I like myself better now. My self-esteem is higher. I have gained a sense of control over PT by focusing on daily workouts. This has given me the ability to control other areas of my life. Fitness affects so many areas of your life from your job, making rank, financial security to your marriage and ability to parent. But, you have to control it yourself to get there. No one can make you do it. You have to want it. I hate working out, but I’m so glad when it’s over!”

Paul passed his PT test in early September, and he has been able to maintain his fitness regimen, for the most part, since then even while on TDY for several weeks. He now knows what works best for him in managing his physical health, his mental and emotional well-being, and his need for social interaction and support. We have closed our treatment, but I look forward to hearing about Paul’s continued success. I think that’s what CAF is all about.