Guardian Resilience Teams champion holistic health and a culture of fitness

The U.S. Space Force is reshaping how it measures and sustains readiness, replacing one-off fitness tests with a preventive, data-informed model that treats physical, mental and cognitive performance as a single system. Leaders say the shift, known as the Holistic Health Approach, is designed to match the demands of a force built on highly specialized, cognitively intensive missions.

The service codified fitness-for-duty standards in September 2025 with its first Human Performance and Readiness Manual, SPFMAN 36-2905. The manual adds leadership responsibilities at the unit and squadron levels to put the Holistic Health Approach into daily practice and move the force beyond traditional fitness programs.

The approach traces to a 2023 headquarters memo that set out three pillars: performance health optimization practices, education, and a two-year, voluntary Continuous Fitness Assessment study run with the Air Force Research Laboratory. That study has advanced into a second phase, called CFA PRIME.

“Space Force Guardians are cognitive performers,” said Dr. Sarah Ward, holistic health integrator assigned to the Space Force Quality of Life and Resilience Directorate, or S1Q, under Headquarters Space Force. “Evidence-based research and practice show the link between cognitive performance and cognitive health to physical performance and physical health. You can’t have one without the other.”

Central to implementation are Guardian Resilience Teams, or GRTs, embedded across the service. Each team brings together specialists in psychological health, strength and conditioning, mental health and physical therapy to deliver proactive care aimed at sustained performance rather than short-term test preparation. GRTs also train and certify members of Unit Fitness Cell teams, which provide programming and individualized guidance aligned with national exercise science standards.

In the National Capital Region, Ward leads two GRTs that collectively support more than 1,300 Guardians. She said the teams routinely address sleep, nutrition, stress management and recovery—areas that directly affect performance in round-the-clock operations. “We know we can’t change shift work, so we teach them tips and tricks to the science so they can manage, recover, and heal better,” she said.

Technology is another pillar. Wearable devices and performance tracking help teams tailor coaching, enabling Guardians to monitor recovery, adjust habits and reduce injury risk based on personal metrics. The service frames the tools as part of a broader culture-of-fitness effort that treats training as mission-essential, not just a compliance task.

Ward said demand for GRT services is rising as awareness grows. The program plans to standardize advanced credentials across its specialist workforce, with a requirement for lifestyle medicine board certification to deepen expertise in long-term health and resilience. “We’re sitting for national board certifications in lifestyle medicine to make sure that we’re at the highest level of education to infuse those true lifestyle changes into the Guardian’s daily activities and duty days,” she said.

Officials describe the end state as a force where prevention, personalization and performance are built into daily routines—from leadership engagement at the squadron level to individualized training and recovery plans—creating a more resilient enterprise prepared for increasingly complex space operations.