Page 60 - JSOM Fall 2023

Unconventional Resilience

A Strategic Framework

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Erika “Ann” Jeschke, PhD *; Jay Baker, MD ;
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Jared Wyma-Bradley, MDiv ; John Dorsch, DO ; Sarah L. Huffman, PhD 5
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ABSTRACT
This will be the second in a series of nine articles in which we In contrast to conventional resilience, which focuses perfor-
discuss findings from our ethnographic study entitled “The Im- mance on force of will, we explore unconventional resilience
pact of Catastrophic Injury Exposure on Resilience in Special as an integrated process that focuses performance on the force
Operations Surgical Teams.” Our goal in this article is to es- of movement. Empirical data highlight conceptual attributes
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tablish the practical importance of redefining resilience within that make up the essential components of this framework.
a strategic framework. Our bottom-up approach to strategy To achieve our goal, we (1) briefly remind readers how we
development explores unconventional resilience as an inte- have problematized conventional resilience; (2) extrapolate
grated transformational process that promotes change-agency our definition of unconventional resilience; and (3) describe
through the force of movement. Synthesis of empirical data de- in detail our strategic framework. We conclude by gesturing
rived from participant interviews and focus groups highlights to the practical importance of this strategic framework to all
conceptual attributes that make up the essential components SOF medics.
of this framework. To achieve our goal, the authors (1) briefly
remind readers how we have problematized conventional re- The findings in this article are taken from the study entitled
silience; (2) explain how we analyzed qualitative quotes to ex- “The Impact of Catastrophic Injury Exposure on Resilience
trapolate our definition of unconventional resilience; and (3) in Special Operations Surgical Teams,” which was approved
describe in detail our strategic framework. We conclude by ges- by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Institutional Review
turing to why this strategic framework is applicable to practical Board as an exempt protocol. To capture intricacies within the
performance of all Special Operation Forces (SOF) medics. cultural ethos of SOST, data were collected through individ-
ual, open-ended interviews in which four participants from
Keywords: resilience; performance; strategic; SOF medic; each clinical specialty represented in SOST were recruited to
transformational share their individual stories. Additionally, focus groups and
field observations were performed across the two SOST de-
tachments to capture team and organizational dynamics. All
identifying name, genders, locations, medical specialties, and
Introduction
military ranks were removed. To further protect the privacy
In the first article of this series, we provided a justification and confidentiality of all participants, themes described herein
for how engaging in an ethnographic research method could do not reflect individual commentaries. All quotes are con-
help develop a more meaningful understanding of resilience structed of various SOST medic narrative that code under the
that focuses on the practical performance of Air Force Special particular theme discussed. Additionally, quotes are an aggre-
Operations Surgical Teams (SOST) medics and their exposure gate analysis, which not only draws a holistic blueprint of the
to catastrophic injury. In this second article of the series, we entire data set, but also represents the co-ed composition of
introduce in detail our unconventional resilience construct and the organization.
the strategic framework developed from analysis of our ethno-
graphic study. By strategic, we mean a unified set of concepts Conventional Resilience:
that organizes an internally coherent approach to achieving Definition and Problematics
performance objectives. 1
In the previous article, we defined conventional resilience as a
While perhaps disruptive, we aim to develop a strategic frame- construct focused on the individual’s mental capacity to endure
work for unconventional resilience with practical importance hardship through a force of will. According to this definition,
for the Special Operation Forces (SOF) medic’s performance. resilience enables the maintenance of performance through the
Constructing space for transformational performance possi- strength of positive thinking, which allows an individual to
bilities requires engaging complex analysis which diagnoses face fear and remain unchanged in the aftermath. The per-
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and addresses subtle areas of cultural sclerosis that, if unad- formance process entailed in this static conceptualization of
dressed, could eventually lead to performance occlusion. resilience as mental toughness is based on the limited exchange
*Correspondence to stlamazonia@gmail.com
1 Dr Erika “Ann” Jeschke is affiliated with Leidos Corporation, Reston, VA. COL Jay Baker is a physician affiliated with the U.S. Army. Jared
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Wyma-Bradley is affiliated with the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, Falls Church, VA. Col (Ret) John Dorsch is a physician affiliated
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with the University of North Carolina Southeastern, Greenville, NC. Dr Sarah L. Huffman is affiliated with the 60th Medical Group, Travis Air
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Force Base, Fairfield, CA.
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