Groton — The Naval Submarine Base has been chosen as one of 13 sites to participate in the Department of Defense’s Healthy Base Initiative, a demonstration project for Operation Live Well, aimed at increasing the health and wellness of the total force, including civilians and family members.

“SUBASE looks forward undertaking this Operation Live Well project and working with the other DOD pilot installation sites over the next 18 months,” Capt. Marc W. Denno, commanding officer of the Groton base, said in a news release. “Our Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Department has long been committed to Navy Team New London Fitness. They’re excited to be spearheading this new program and to be offering even greater health and wellness initiatives.”

Eleven of the pilot sites participating in the assessment are military installations. They include:  Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Yokota Air Base, Japan; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center/Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.; U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.; March Air Reserve Base, Calif.; and Camp Dodge, Iowa.  The remaining two sites participating are the Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va.; and Defense Health Headquarters, Falls Church, Va.

 A healthy and fit force is essential to national security as service members must be physically prepared to deploy in a moment’s notice anywhere on the globe to extremely austere and demanding conditions, the defense department said.  As part of this year-long demonstration project, participating installations will be examined for their ability to create environments that enable sustainable healthy lifestyles.  

While the Healthy Base Initiative is designed to identify effective ways to improve the overall health and wellness of service members, families, and civilians, it will also include specific efforts on making informed nutritional food choices, increased physical activity, weight management, and tobacco cessation. Many longstanding programs will be evaluated to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.  Best practices will be shared with the services for further implementation throughout the force.

The Healthy Base Initiative and Operation Live Well are part of the president’s National Prevention Strategy and complements the first lady’s Let’s Move! campaign to promote good health for all Americans. The National Prevention Strategy involves all agencies within the federal government and includes an aggressive plan for each agency to take action.  The Let’s Move! campaign is designed to combat and prevent childhood obesity nationwide.

For information, visit: http://www.militaryonesource.mil/olw.