What is Well-Being?

Well-Being is defined as "the personal -- physical, material, mental, and spiritual -- state of Soldiers, civilians, and their families that contributes to their preparedness to perform the Army's mission." Well-being is a condition resulting from a system of individual programs.

What is a Soldier? The term "Soldier" incorporates active, reserve, guard, retiree, and veteran.

Individuals are responsible for nurturing their own well-being, but the Army is responsible for creating and sustaining an environment that supports this endeavor. Army Well-Being integrates policies, programs, and issues into a framework that supports both individual aspirations and mission preparedness.

At the same time, though, Well-Being acknowledges a basic rule of soldiering in the Army -- personal responsibilities and needs are subordinated when duty calls. Soldiers and civilians must ensure that personal issues do not impair their ability to deploy and conduct the mission, and Army Well-Being helps them do this. While family members will never be called upon to directly perform the Army's warfighting mission, they are the Army's greatest supporters and clearly affect what happens in the field. Army Well-Being provides opportunities for Soldiers, civilians, and their families to enhance their personal self-reliance and resilience as they pursue their individual aspirations.

Well-being includes four dimensions:

• The physical state centers on one's health and sense of wellness, satisfying physical needs through a healthy lifestyle.
• The material state centers on essential needs such as shelter, food, and financial resources.
• The mental state centers on needs to learn, grow, achieve recognition, and be accepted.
• The spiritual state centers on a person's religious/philosophical needs and may provide powerful support for values, morals, strength of character, and endurance in difficult and dangerous circumstances.

When these four dimensions are working in harmony, the individual experiences a sense of well-being and mission preparedness.