Resilience is built through genuine connection, the kind that happens when soldiers talk around a campfire, said the Army’s chief of chaplains.

These “campfire moments” are “not laid out on a training calendar, they aren’t laid out on fancy PowerPoint slides, but they are decisive moments of leadership,” Maj. Gen. William Green said March 5 in remarks at a Hot Topic on “Holistic Health and the Resilient Soldier” hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

Addressing the tenets behind the Army’s Health and Holistic Fitness program, known as H2F, Green said that humans innately ponder unspoken questions of belonging and whether they matter. Additionally, isolation and loneliness affect the body, mind and spirit, weakening resilience.

Campfire moments can take place anywhere at any time—and should, Green said. “It's the platoon sergeant who pulls a young soldier aside after a tough training day, not just to correct him, but to check on him to see how he's doing,” he said. “It’s the battalion commander who builds a culture where soldiers can have an honest conversation, because resilience is built in trust, not silence or fear. It's the chaplain sitting in the motor pool at the end of a long day quietly listening to her grieving soldiers and offering a steady presence when words are simply not enough, and it’s the squad leader who has built such a strong team that [physical training] extends to a Saturday hike for fun.”

Built on a five-domain foundation of mental, sleep, nutritional, physical and spiritual wellness, the H2F program encourages soldiers to maintain their health, fitness and well-being for all around peak performance.

The program, which provides technical specialists, equipment and resources to Army units, has been established at more than 75 brigades and will continue to expand across the Army, including the Army National Guard and Army Reserve, through fiscal 2027, Lt. Gen. David Francis, commanding general of the Center for Initial Military Training and deputy commanding general of Army Training and Doctrine Command, said during the Hot Topic.

Green, who became the 26th chief of chaplains in December, said the H2F program is the Army’s “No. 1 investment in soldier readiness and lethality” because it is more than just a program or a box-checking exercise. “It is the foundation of warfighting excellence,” he said.

Resilient leaders “don’t just survive hardship, they carry difficult missions to their conclusion,” Green said, adding that “resilience is more than just looking back or bouncing back from hardships. It’s about standing strong and ready together for the next challenge, the next mission, the next fight, knowing that we can trust the people on our left and on our right.”