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Center helps Soldiers,
Families develop mental toughness
by Eve Meinhardt
Paraglide
When a Soldier attends basic and advanced individual training, he or she receives the technical, tactical and physical training to develop the skills necessary to perform their mission and job. As part of the Warrior Ethos and the Soldier’s Creed, those Soldiers are required to not only be physically tough and proficient in their warrior tasks and drills, they must also be mentally tough. The Army Center for Enhanced Performance at Fort Bragg helps not only Soldiers, but also Family members and Department of Army civilians, strengthen their mental skills.
“ACEP is a mental strength program,” said Seth Kaplan, performance enhancement specialist, Fort Bragg ACEP. “We provide mental skills education and training for Soldiers, units and Families so they can gain the mental edge they need to perform at elite levels.”
Kaplan said that while the core content doesn’t change, they tailor ACEP services to meet the needs of Soldiers and units.
“We work with active-duty Soldiers pre-deployment; wounded warriors to help them make an effective transition back to active duty or into civilian life; Soldiers going through Special Forces, psychological operations and civil affairs qualification courses, helping them show proficiency on their foreign language oral proficiency interview; and Family readiness groups to help strengthen the Family team, providing them with a means to be more productive and efficient at home and help them cope with the stress that comes with separation and repeated deployments,” he said.
Kari Garcia, a Fort Bragg Family member, has attended three ACEP seminars and has two more to go. She said she enrolled in the ACEP program to improve her ability to juggle being a stay-at-home mom while going back to school to become a physician assistant.
“I wanted to improve my ability to focus while studying in order to get the maximum benefit out of my efforts with school. Seth has given me some great practical tools for how to set up personalized routines and has also laid a great foundation for various mental skills,” she said.
Garcia said she was grateful the resource is available for Soldiers and Family members and that she has benefited greatly from the program.
The ACEP education model helps Soldiers gain mental strength for life by building confidence, helping with goal setting, attention control, energy management and integrating imagery.
“One of the most common things we hear here is ‘where was this years ago?’ I’ve had senior NCOs (noncommissioned officers) tell me they could have used ACEP earlier in the careers because the training helps Soldiers become even stronger mentally, keep their composure under pressure better, manage their emotions and develop their adaptive thinking skills to more effectively interpret errors and mistakes,” said Kaplan.
ACEP uses state of the art technologies, including biofeedback and weapons simulators; educational best practices; and applied sport psychology techniques. Maryrose Blank, an ACEP performance enhancement specialist, began her career in sport psychology, training athletes for the mental aspect of their sport. She said that she is glad to be a member of the ACEP team and put her knowledge to use helping the Soldiers who are serving their country.
“In a sense, Soldiers can be considered professional athletes, they just have a lot more at stake,” said Blank. “Soldiers are preparing to go to war. They need the mental strength for a 12 or 15-month deployment as opposed to the one night, big game that athletes face. A Soldier’s life is at stake and that is why what we do here is so important.”
The ACEP Web site at www.acep.army.mil provides additional information on the history of the ACEP program and the education model.
Soldiers, units, Family members or DA civilians interested in ACEP training can call the Fort Bragg ACEP office at 396-0727 to schedule an appointment.
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