In May of 2011 the Canadian Forces introduced new training into the curricula at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School and select Army Schools. Resilience training consisting of a handful of classroom lectures focusing on theory, individual coping skills, and the role of leadership would now be taught at three points in a soldiers training. This classroom time introduces such concepts as the nature and types of mental health issues, the role of support structures and family, as well as the foundational skills for individuals such as the "Big Four. The training serves as the introduction to resilience development, but is not built upon practically or progressively through a recruit's training. This is a shortcoming of the present training regime. While this introduction of theoretical resilience training is a good start, it is not enough. Like any new knowledge or skill, there is a need for reinforcement through practical application, practice, and use under challenging conditions in order to make it effective. Supervised mentoring and coaching from patient, experienced instructors, along with formal incorporation into exercise development, is the next logical and necessary step. Without it, the recruit will forget the theory, not adopt the skill out of habit, and default to whatever tools are at the top of his toolbox. What is missing from this implementation is that the theory is only the first step; it must be taken and put into practice. To be effective in times of stress, theory must become habit. It must be incorporated into the practical aspects of training: garrison command roles and field assessments. This paper will offer constructive criticism directed at those that train, or are responsible for training policies, with the goal of shaping the development of training standards and plans. This will assist training staff to develop material and design individual training course exercises to build on the work done in the delivery of resilience theory in the classroom.

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