QPME: Fitness for Marines

"Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being."

~ Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Social Fitness includes the ability to engage in healthy social networks that promote overall well-being and optimal unit performance. Social fitness intertwines the individual, unit, family, and community. All four components are necessary for enhancing and sustaining social fitness within the context of TFF.

Individual Social Fitness is the most basic element that must be achieved for greater conditions of social fitness within a unit. family. and military community. It is best achieved through development of purpose. clarity of personal values. understanding and awareness of mission. and preparation for the challenges Service members and their families will face.

Unit Fitness is characterized as the healthy connections within the social network of the unit structure for overall well-being and optimal unit performance. When unit members earn the trust of their leader. they can be more autonomous and lead independent missions as required. Leaders know that they can trust their subordinates to accomplish the assigned tasks. Likewise. subordinates must believe that leaders care and consider their well-being when making decisions.

160831-N-VR008-227 SAN PEDRO, California (Aug. 31, 2016) Sgt. Jaron Billue, a Marine Expeditionary Force Marine, plays catch with children at an after-school fitness program at Providence Community Health Wellness and Activity Center in San Pedro, during the inaugural Los Angeles Fleet Week. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kyle Goldberg/Released). Photo courtesy of DVIDS.