Capt. Donisha Turner works out at the gym in the Sagamihara Housing Area at Camp Zama, Japan, on March 25, 2026. (Noriko Kudo/U.S. Army)
When Capt. Donisha Turner learned one of her soldiers had signed up for Camp Zama’s Wellness Reset Program, she decided to join, too.
Turner, assigned to the 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, said her leadership philosophy says she never asks soldiers to do something she is unwilling to do herself.
“If I can motivate my soldiers as a leader, then I’m going to do that,” she told Stars and Stripes by phone June 23. “I think having that leader that shows, ‘Hey, I can also embrace and get on the ground with you,’ will keep soldiers having that drive.”
The Wellness Reset Program, an annual, six-week program that ran from Jan. 26 through March 18 this year, is a collaboration between Camp Zama’s Armed Forces Wellness Center and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Sports, Fitness and Aquatics.
The program has been in place since 2018. Class size is capped at 35, but this year only 26 signed up, according to Diane Thompson, lead health educator at the Armed Forces Wellness Center at Zama, the headquarters for U.S. Army Japan.
The program is designed to help participants build healthier habits through education rather than simply losing weight. The program combines health assessments, fitness challenges and classroom instruction to help participants make sustainable lifestyle changes, Thompson said by phone June 25.
Participants begin with a body assessment that measures body composition, including fat mass and lean body mass, providing a more complete picture of overall health than a traditional scale.
Another assessment at the end of the program measures progress. Between those appointments, participants may opt for classes on nutrition, metabolism, healthy sleep habits and stress management, or schedule individual services such as metabolic testing, oxygen testing and health coaching, according to Thompson.
The program is intentionally flexible. Participants are encouraged to choose the classes and services that best fit their goals while earning bonus points for attending educational sessions.
Weekly step-count challenges and gym attendance incentives encourage healthy habits without forcing participants into a one-size-fits-all approach.
“We wanted people to have the autonomy to learn what they feel like they were ready to learn,” Thompson said by phone June 25. “We meet them where they’re at and help with education, so they understand the background behind these topics.”
For Turner, the program reinforced that notion that fitness is about much more than exercise.
“I think it’s your overall health, your mental health, the way you eat, stress, the way you manage stress, ensuring you’re getting enough sleep,” she said. “It’s the full scope of things, not just, ‘Hey, I’m going to lose weight.’ ”
Turner said one of the biggest lessons she learned from the program was the importance of recovery. She is already committed to waking up at 3:30 a.m. to work out before caring for her three children and reporting for duty, she said.
“I realized that when I did take rest days, it actually helped me more than just trying to go, go, go,” she said. “Allowing my body to relax and reset definitely helped.”
Turner said the program gave her practical tools she plans to carry into command, allowing her to better support soldiers physically and mentally while leading from the front.
For anyone considering the next Wellness Reset Program, her advice is simple.
“I would just tell them to do it,” Turner said. “There’s never a better time than the present. Even if you feel lost or like you’re not making progress, just keep figuring out what works for you.”
