For Wisconsin Guard members, resiliency is key to returning to life after deployment

February 8, 2010 - Some of that support comes from a new Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program that equips and trains service members, families and civilian employees to maximize their potential and face the physical and psychological challenges of sustained operations. Friday's presentation focused on resiliency.

Dunbar said that resilience, by definition, is an object's ability to withstand force or trauma and rebound. "It's the difference between before we deployed to combat and after," he explained.

He dropped a baseball from shoulder height, noting how it bounced and referred to its "angle of resilience." He repeated this with a golf ball, a tennis ball and a football, each achieving different results.

"Some of us are like baseballs, and some of us are like golf balls," Dunbar observed. "Some of us are better at this than others."

With more than 3,300 Wisconsin Guard Soldiers and Airmen recently returned from a combat zone, it is essential that they are given the tools necessary to help them re-adjust to civilian life, said Dunbar. Because each individual in the National Guard is unique, there is no easy way to determine who may need help adjusting after a deployment.

So everyone is given the same access to the same tools, Dunbar said, referring to those programs as "arrows in a quiver."

Soldiers returning with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat team in January received briefings on some of these tools at "Wisconsin Day" - where the Wisconsin Service Member Support Division joined forces with the state Department of Workforce Development and the state Department of Veterans Affairs, along with several other agencies, to help returning Soldiers and Airmen understand rights and benefits they have earned as veterans - in particular; education, employment, health care, and the opportunity to file service-related Veterans Administration disability claims before leaving active duty. All returning service members receive similar briefings, which continue throughout the year during reintegration events.

Not only is the reintegration required, it is the right thing to do, Dunbar said. And it helps create a comprehensively fit service member; one who is resilient: physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually fit; is part of a family unit.

Dunbar noted that Guard members can face heightened stress levels without being on deployment, and detailed what he does to stay resilient.

"I try to remember my blessings," he said. "We live in the United States of America - it's pretty amazing, and we tend to forget."

He emphasized maintaining balance between work and family: "If all you do is work, you're missing some special time with your family," he said. Vacations can help maintain that balance, along with understanding that no one is irreplaceable.

"If I die tomorrow, I promise you the Wisconsin National Guard will still be a great organization," Dunbar said. "If you die tomorrow, I promise you your last thought will not be 'I should have worked harder.'"

The adjutant general also noted the importance of being true to oneself. "You have to be happy with who you see in the mirror," he explained. "In the end, being true to your self is being honest with God."

He also urged his audience to spend some time in silence, whether in prayer or just listening. "You'll be surprised at what you might hear," he said.