The Birth of The Proposal

I resigned from Army civilian service (as a GS-12 Information Technologist) in early 2007 to become a mom. I was a competitive athlete and wanted to find out my on-post options for family fitness. We were stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and I researched and found a stroller fitness program offered for a small fee. The program was immensely popular and had a long waiting list.

Following our move to Bamberg, Germany also in early 2007 and before the birth of our son, I was appalled by the lack of fitness opportunities there for moms who wished to exercise with their children in tow - I felt that Command emphasis and support should absolutely be focused on nurturing development of fitness programs which enable caretakers to exercise in conjunction with their children. Such programs are vital not just to provide feasible alternatives to physical separation of the family (daycare) resulting in considerable financial and developmental cost, but also to afford caretakers the opportunity to promote healthy values and embed healthy habits in their family members from the earliest age. My husband's unit was slated immediately to deploy on a 15-month tour, and I found myself surrounded by a whole host of fellow caretakers physically separated from the support of extended family and struggling to navigate through the unique difficulties of rearing families in a foreign country. I won unanimous community support and immediate establishment of a separate fitness area for moms with kids in tow. It was a good start.

Following our move to the KMC in 2009, and animated discussions concerning identical challenges experienced at KMC, Stuttgart, and Grafenwoehr (it was pure chance that I spoke with Renee Champagne, Courtney Rife, and Shannon Linville all in the same week - Renee at a coffee shop and Courtney and Shannon at a CrossFit certification), I developed the FamFit proposal. It took only 3 nights to write, but I've been revising it ever since, and try to keep news of new military family fitness services offered at Air Force and Army bases overseas current and informative.

Ideas presented in the FamFit proposal are mine alone - I had no assistance or input from anyone else developing the proposal, save those whom I specifically credit and quote within the paper. I feel it is absolutely essential to emphasize that I didn't write FamFit "for" any one individual, but instead for the multitude of individuals - all volunteers - who I've found here overseas already providing free fitness instruction. It's not just one or two heroes - there is a multitude of selfless heroes providing free fitness training to overseas military families, and there is a multitude because there's such a huge demand for their services. No single action could serve to more demonstratively show the military community's dire need for such services. Therein lies the crux of the argument in support of establishing such cost-free fitness programs for the benefit of overseas military families. Such critical services should never have to depend on volunteerism to survive.

I will continue to apply all constructive criticism/input I've received on this proposal toward its revision in order both to strengthen the cause, and to hopefully build awareness for the necessity of free military family fitness programs overseas. The most notable and absolutely thrilling input I've received recently regards a potential opportunity for FamFit to be integrated into Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) in order to benefit wounded soldiers and soldiers assigned in transition. After speaking with Tricia Groenheim in mid-September 2009 (who is personally involved with providing certified fitness training to WTU soldiers, many wounded, as a volunteer), I drafted a separate proposal for FamFit's integration in WTUs (here's a link), suggesting 3-phases of integration. FamFit confronts many issues which are considered high priority for overseas troops and their families: wounded service member services, mental & behavioral health, rest & relaxation, host nation care, and FRG/Spouse support groups.

I provided certified fitness training for family members and their children at Ramstein Youth Center last year, but now serve a little closer to home providing daily training to service members at Landstuhl on a volunteer basis. I am pregnant with our second child and plan to continue to stay at home at least 3 more years, but would welcome any opportunity to assist (from home) in drafting a service-wide policy promoting military family fitness. I have experience drafting security and operational policy both for the Air Force and the Army (I worked at Randolph Air Force Base as a GS-11 IT Tech 2004-2005), can competently navigate military regulatory guidance, and draft properly structured policy with memorandums for approval.

Finally, I must again recognize Renee Champagne for her personal tireless efforts training mothers and children overseas, and also for her tenacious dedication to FamFit. Without Renee's tireless marketing skills, FamFit would undoubtedly still be relegated to a dark, unfrequented corner of cyberspace.

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a note concerning the FamFit proposal & its revisions: I've revised the Military Family Fitness Proposal on multiple occasions to improve its functionality, integrating valuable feedback from military-affiliated supporters in the states and overseas. The foundation of the proposal, however, has not changed. I want FamFit to supplement and support the free fitness programs provided for military families and the resounding success experienced by Fitness Trainers across the European Theatre who've already implemented the programs. I wrote the FamFit Proposal in order to introduce a feasible method of implementing family fitness programs for overseas military families at no cost. More importantly, however, I wrote it to raise awareness of the cause, of the need for providing free family fitness programs for overseas military families. The FamFit proposal is certainly not the only (nor even perhaps the best) way of achieving that end, but should serve instead as a red alert that we need to be speeding toward fulfillment of that end!