US Army BrigGen Rhonda Cornum is the director of the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program.  She also embodies the values of her own program:

The CSF program focuses on the ability to bounce back from stress or trauma, something she utilized after her experience in the Gulf War…

Cornum flew over the Iraqi desert with her crew in a Black Hawk helicopter Feb. 27, during the fourth day of the U.S. ground assault…

Her crew was responding to the downing of F-16 pilot Capt Bill Andrews, who was shot down over Iraq.  Their helicopter took fire before getting there and crashed.  Five of her crewmates were killed; she was wounded and taken prisoner.

“If I had not been an optimistic person, I would have given up,” said Cornum…

“I knew being a prisoner would be hard, but it was better than being dead,” said Cornum…

She never wept or lost faith while alone and locked in her room, but instead did what she likes to do when she gets the chance to be alone: sing. Louder and louder she sang her favorite rock songs by Simon and Garfunkel, Gordon Lightfoot, and Cat Stevens, ending with her favorite, “The Wind Beneath my Wings.”

“Where ever you are, you make it as good as you can make it, because there’s no sense in being miserable,” said Cornum.

(Then-Capt, now Col, Retired, Andrews was captured, then repatriated along with General Cornum 8 days later.  He would be awarded the Air Force Cross — second only to the Medal of Honor — for his actions that day.)

General Cornum’s experiences, both educationally and personally, make her uniquely qualified to lead the Army’s efforts to instill resilience in its forces, particularly after years of war have taken their toll on the US military.

“I not only have both a philosophical and a scientific understanding of the importance of being resilient and of those thinking skills, but I have a personal belief based on my personal experiences that those skills work.”

While a few Army atheists have criticized her Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program for its “spiritual” aspects (even imagining offense where none exists), neither the article nor General Cornum make mention of anything religious.  Her take is far simpler:

Suffering is stupid, but whining is worse.

General Cornum is retiring this winter after 33 years of service.