May 21, 2024 (CAMP RIPLEY, Minn.)– “Peah Teah, Peah Teah!! Good for you and GOOD for me!” screamed the cadence caller as the formation ran down the road in the early morning darkness.

The goal was to stretch (15 minutes), run 5 miles (30 Minutes) and do a cooldown (another 15 minutes) before the end of the Physical Fitness period as per the training schedule.

This conditioning, at a six-minute mile pace, in most cases made runners out of runners and joggers or walkers out of others. Despite the underline positive intention of it being a team-building exercise, most grumblings came shortly after the sergeant shouted, “Double Tiiiiiime!”.

The Minnesota National Guard in response to a directive from the National Guard Bureau and supported by the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs, took the reins on a new program introduced by the active Army.

As defined by the Department of Defense, Holistic Health and Fitness, or H2F, is a first-of-its-kind, Army enterprise, human performance system designed to optimize service-member readiness with physical and non-physical performance training through the use of performance professionals, programs, facilities, equipment, and education. The Minnesota National Guard both Army and Air established an H2F training team that maintains this focus and labors to arm its service-members and their families with the tools and insight to achieve optimal mental, physical, sleep, nutritional, and spiritual readiness.

H2F is a comprehensive system to enhance Service-member readiness and overall performance. Here’s how it works. H2F focuses on five key Domains of Readiness:

Physical: Optimizing bodily fitness endurance and stamina.

Nutritional: Promoting healthy choices and eating habits.

Mental: Enhancing psychological resilience and self-awareness.

Spiritual: Addressing faith and well-being within individual beliefs.

Sleep: Improving cognitive quality and restfulness, supporting healthy living.

At the active Army’s brigade level, H2F has been fielded as a cross-functional resource whose teams provide support encompassing the primary domains. These teams work together to proactively improve Soldier performance, readiness, and resiliency. For the active components as well as the National Guard, the fielding of H2F is introduced with the intention of complete integration for both home and work, permitting service-members to take charge of their health, prevent injuries, and optimize individual readiness and performance.

“The ultimate goal of H2F here in Minnesota is to become a state asset empowering our Soldiers, Airmen and their families to integrate these systems as more of a lifestyle and a partnership across several communities,” said Army Lt. Col. Jolene Carlson, H2F Director for the Minnesota National Guard.

Two of the biggest factors in the National Guard that drives any program are time and location. For active personnel, resources can be available at anytime and the well typically does not run dry.  For National Guard organizations whose members are working civilian jobs, living civilian lives and often reside several hours away, the practice of ensuring these tools are available to them is a full-time job.

“One of our biggest goals is making ourselves available and incorporating into a unit’s training schedule the best way possible,” added Army Sgt. 1^st Class Corey Gregor, course manager for the H2F team.

Using technology as a resource is another way the H2F team will be able to support National Guard Soldiers and Airmen on and off duty.  Several products are in development to meet this goal by allowing access to information and one-on-one contact with the team as well.

Additionally, the H2F Team will be on location at the Arden Hills Army Training Site and at Camp Ripley for now.  The increase in location availability will depend on a larger budget this upcoming year. Personnel will have access to fitness coaches, nutritionists, and unit chaplains.

“We’re kind of doing it with units specifically right now because that’s kind of low hanging fruit and more it’s not that we won’t continue to do that, but how do we make that impact greater to offer accessibility to more people is really the long-term goal,” said Carlson.

The H2F idea will be a major shift in the way the force trains, develops and cares for personnel. With continued evolution over the next several years, its progress towards the long-term goals of integrating physical training programs, developing essential sleep tactics, establishing better food environments, strengthening cognition, and enhancing spiritual readiness will be tested by the current culture.

So where does H2F go from here?  The answer is simplistically complicated as is many things that require additional funds to support its growth. The initial plan is to begin working as a federally funded program at the beginning of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1, 2026. Through the support of the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs, the H2F program may see growth in size and activity to meet more of the Minnesota national Guard’s needs.

“We feel that it has a direct contribution to our ability to retain quality and qualified service members that allows them to continue to serve,” said Mr. Don Kerr, executive director, Department of Military Affairs.

The program, while still in its infancy, is broadening it reach every day. Activities and special events fill the programs calendar quickly making it potentially one of the most sought-after total health and wellness concepts available.

“We’ve got a lot of measures of performance, not necessarily measures of effectiveness yet, but I am looking forward to seeing those numbers as well as the program’s growth,” added Kerr.

Story by Mr. Tony House

Camp Ripley Public Affairs