Page 13 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Fall 2016

Spiritual: Techniques such as being mindful, prayer, research and developing more resources that will be ac-
meditation, and, to some degree, yoga help personnel cessible through the website. I encourage everyone read-
be in tune with themselves and their surroundings. ing this to join SOMA and to contribute in some fashion
to being part of the preservation of the force and family.
SOMA also recognizes the efforts of these rock stars and
their burning desire to be a part of something bigger All of this is a long way of saying that the people are
than themselves by serving in very diverse and intense what make Special Operations medicine such a valuable
environments. This is why the SOMA leadership made commodity—their emotional intelligence, the ability to
the decision to transform SOMA membership from be- manage change, the ability to know what’s a priority
ing based on attendance at the Scientific Assembly into and what’s important. You are known by the company
a professional membership association that is advocat- you keep and the words you speak, and you are among
ing for its members and providing resources year-round. great company here.
SOMA is working to expand the ways we support the
Special Operations community, from the battlefield and All the best and with much respect,
our support of the Prolonged Field Care Working Group SOCM Steve Viola, ATP, NREMT-P
and sharing of information through the educational ses- SOMA President
sions at our Scientific Assembly, to the research field, “Keeping names off walls”
where we are developing more mechanisms to share

From the SOMA President xi