HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- AFSOC held its second-annual Integrated Resiliency Optimization Network, or IRON, Summit led by the command’s A1 directorate on July 18 – 20.
The purpose of this year’s summit was to educate the IRON team providers embedded within the wings on the program’s growing vision and priorities, while also bringing in subject matter experts to give presentations on new best practices and techniques for the teams to implement within their wings.
“The first summit focused mostly on the physical pillar of resiliency,” said Ms. Natasha Hilts, AFSOC IRON division chief. “While the feedback we received from our IRON teams was overwhelmingly positive, we evolved this year’s summit to include topics across all the Preservation of the Force and Family program pillars: physical, psychological, cognitive, social and spiritual.”
Sessions from the summit included education and best practices on subjects such as strength and conditioning, increasing productivity and cognition, moral injury, human performance, mindset fundamentals and more.
Brig. Gen. Rebecca Sonkiss, AFSOC deputy commander attended the opening ceremony and provided remarks to the importance of the POTFF and IRON programs as we continue to move toward the future strategic environment.
“The future fight requires that we not only recruit young men and women to the Air Commando community but provide them the support network and stability to keep them in our community for the long haul,” said Sonkiss. “What we do now to evolve our developmental programs and curriculum is pivotal to how we shape our formation for the future.”
Since the IRON program’s inception in 2019, the number of providers has grown from 33 physical performance providers serving 800 Airmen to 146 providers from multiple human performance disciplines serving 20,000 Airmen.
“The POTFF and IRON programs are all about a holistic approach to performance and resiliency,” said Hilts. “Events like the IRON summit are an avenue for our teams and helping agencies to learn modern best practices and form those cross-domain relationships so when they go back to their wings, they can provide the best support for our Air Commandos and their families that continually sacrifice on a day-to-day basis.”
To learn more about the IRON program and resources available, reach out to Captain Jordan Bowen at jordan.bowen.5@us.af.mil or (850) 884-3224.