Military Projects and CORE partner to evaluate the military’s Healthy Base Initiative

October 25, 2013

On September 26, 2013, BCTR's Military Projects and the Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation (CORE) were awarded a grant by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Defense under Agreement No. 2013-39580-21518 to partner with the Department of Defense Military Community & Family Policy, Healthy Base Initiative (HBI) team to assist with measurement and evaluation. HBI is a demonstration project for Operation Live Well, aimed at increasing the health and wellness of the total force, including civilians and family members by focusing on making informed nutritional food choices, increasing physical activity, controlling weight, and encouraging tobacco cessation.

Eleven of the pilot sites participating in the assessment are military installations (Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Ft. George G. Meade, MD; , Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Sub Base New London, Conn.; 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.. Each site is offering an innovative mix of nutrition, fitness and wellness programs and services.

During this one year project, BCTR and CORE will be assisting HBI in the development of evaluation plans for individual programs as well as assessing the overall impact of their interactions at pilot site locations. This will be the third partnership between CORE and the Military Projects.