The Army is implementing a variety of programs to improve soldiers’ "resiliency," or ability to deal with stress from combat or elsewhere, Army leaders told an Institute of Land Warfare Contemporary Military Forum, "Resilience in the All-Volunteer Force," Oct. 27 at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition.While the Army ethos towards stress has traditionally been to "suck it up," Army leaders realize this isn’t an appropriate approach anymore and are working to formally teach soldiers "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness" to manage stress better so that they react to difficult situations in a more healthy fashion."This gives you the skills to suck it up better," said Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, the deputy commander of initial military training at the Army Training and Doctrine Command.So the Army has established a "Victory University" at Fort Jackson, S.C., where soldiers – usually captains, majors and NCOs – take a 10-day course teaching ways to maximize emotional, social, family and spiritual strength. Those who complete the course become Master Resiliency Trainers, who then spread the lessons throughout the ranks of the Army.So far the Army has trained about 2,200 such master trainers, and aims to get to a total of 5,000 by the end of Fiscal Year 2011, Col. Thomas Vail, deputy director of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, said. "We want to make sure that they have the ability to successfully cope with life’s challenges and adversities," he said.The soldiers who get the training will include 25 percent of all drill sergeants and 100 percent of Advanced Individual Training platoon sergeants. The 1st Infantry Division, currently deployed to southern Iraq, has created a Resiliency Campus in Basra teaching resiliency skills to soldiers deployed, said Maj. Gen. Vincent Brooks, the division’s commander, speaking to the forum by videoconference from Iraq.The 172nd Infantry Brigade, based in Germany, is undertaking a pilot program where it provides various incentives, like days off, to soldiers who do activities that promote resilience, from working out to attending chapel to using counseling services, Col. Frank Zachar, the brigade’s commander, said.And since implementing resiliency training among the young soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea, crime among soldiers has declined 60 percent over the last year. That result is due to the resiliency training, said the division commander, Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker."I sent a letter to [Army Vice Chief of Staff] General [Peter] Chiarelli. I said: ‘I’ve been in the Army a long time and it takes a lot to impress me, but this resiliency training works,’" he said.