3.  Why should I conduct it in my command? Your civilian employees deserve concern for their health and welfare just as your Soldiers do. The Army recognizes and supports this by authorizing the Civilian Health Promotion Program. As a Commander, you should consider this a valuable tool that will add a new dimension to improving the health of your command. (See page 3 for endorsements for the necessity of health promotion programs.)

4.  How will it benefit my command? Based on the experiences of Commanders who have conducted a Civilian Health Promotion Program, you can expect participants to achieve a heightened level of health that will be noticeable to them, their Families, and their coworkers. Some who do not initially volunteer to participate will change their minds when they begin seeing the positive effects on those around them who are participating. You can also expect to see a boost in the morale of your civilian employees. This will be based partly on their increased sense of well-being and personal pride as they see and feel themselves becoming healthier, and partly on their knowledge that their chain of command is concerned about their health enough to devote duty time for personal fitness. Post-program surveys will show you that the participants themselves recognize their own higher energy levels, new enthusiasm and ability to cope with stress, and a brighter outlook on their jobs and personal lives. (See page 4, Background and Rationale for the Civilian Health Promotion Program for more information.)

5.  How formal does the program have to be? It has to be "formal" in the sense of being a coordinated, documented, monitored program that meets the requirements outlined in Paragraph 2, above. At the same time your program must be flexible enough to accommodate a very basic fact: Not everyone entering the program will be at the same level of fitness. Some will be fit from the start, while others will have difficulty climbing a single flight of stairs. This may appear to be a dilemma in light of the requirement for "formal physical exercise training," but it is not. Nothing in the definition of "formal" states or even implies a requirement for a single standard of exercise with group application. To be "formal," every individual specifies his or her program in a contract with his or her Supervisor. The contract documents what will be done, when it will be done, and what the goals are for improvement. Employees will be evaluated before beginning the program to determine where on the fitness scale they fall. The evaluation and education provided will help the employees determine realistic goals for improvement and the best way to use their time to achieve these goals so they will have a valid program. The slides on pages 6-17 describe the layout and outcomes of United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine's (USACHPPM) program, providing an example from which to start your own.