Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff at the U.S. Army, has signed an 85-page operation order that seeks to optimize soldiers’ personal readiness and resilience through engagement with leaders, peers and family members.

The Army said Tuesday the order shifts the strategy of the military branch’s Ready and Resilient campaign from efforts that focus on individuals’ risk factors to a “more proactive approach” that involves all soldiers.

“By switching to a strengthening of all soldiers and elevating their personal readiness and resiliency, … it makes it as if everyone is working on this path together and individuals aren’t singled out,” said Sharyn Saunders, director of the Army Resiliency Directorate.

The R2 campaign will also launch the “engage” professional skill training that aims to teach soldiers how to open dialogues with fellow soldiers who display warning signs of self-destructive behavior.

The Army also began to administer engage training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Sill, Oklahoma while soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado will start to train in 2017.

Established in 2012, the R2 campaign covers five domains of personal readiness such as physical, psychological, social, spiritual and family.

Master resilience trainer-performance experts worked with basic combat training soldiers in C Battery, 1st Battalion, 79th Field Artillery to discuss new energy management strategies in support of efforts to prepare for M-16 rifle marksmanship qualifications.

The U.S. Army said Dec. 20 MRT-PEs from the Fort Sill Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program utilized biofeedback software to show soldiers how emotions affect the nervous system and offered advice on how to control breathing habits and focus.

Soldiers were taught deliberate breathing techniques designed to control the breathing’s emotional, mental and physical components as part of efforts to establish a performance routine that can help service members prepare for a rifle marksmanship qualification or other stressful tasks.

Approximately 1,500 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division soldiers have completed a two-week Security Force Assistance course at the National Training Center which covered topics on communication and rapport with host nation counterparts.

The U.S. Army said Dec. 20 the soldiers will support Operation Freedom‘s Sentinel and assist Afghan counterparts this winter and the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division troops have trained with subject matter experts from 3rd Battalion, 353rd Regiment, Joint Regional Training Center as part of preparations.

“We literally train advisers who are getting ready to go overseas to work with the host nation counterparts to help them solve their own problems with their own solutions,” said Ilyas Renwick, 3rd Battalion, 353rd Regiment trainer and team lead.

Renwick noted that the classes covered the dynamics and psychology of human behavior as well as cross-cultural communication and training.

Soldiers assigned to the 52nd Translator/Interpreter Company, 3rd Battalion, 353rd Regiment acted as interpreters while the 1st Brigade Combat Team troops participated on various scenarios regarding teachings from the course.

A new report from the Congressional Research Service says the U.S. continued to lead the world in global conventional armaments trade during 2015 as overall weapons orders decreased to $79.8 billion in 2015 from $89 billion in 2014.

The report titled “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2008-2015” also revealed that the U.S. government’s global weapons agreements values increased to $40.2 billion in 2015 from $36.1 billion in 2014, the Federation of American Scientists said Dec. 21.

U.S. ranked first in worldwide arms transfer agreements in 2015 with $40.2 billion, or 50.3 percent, while France ranked second with $15.3 billion or 19.16 percent, according to the report.

Global weapons transfer agreements with developing nations constituted 80.9 percent of such agreements from 2012 through 2015 — an increase from 80.4 percent during 2008 through 2011.

In 2015, the value of arms trade agreements with developing countries reached $65.2 billion while arms deliveries were at $33.6 billion.

U.S. and Russia ranked either first or second in arms transfer agreements with developing nations from 2012-2015 with the former obtaining approximately 33.4 percent or $86 billion of such agreements and the latter making $48.6 billion or 18.9 percent.

U.S. ranked first in arms deliveries to developing nations in 2015 at 35.4 percent or $11.9 billion, while Russia and France tied for the second spot at $6.2 billion or 18.5 percent each.

Qatar ended 2015 as the top weapons purchaser among developing nations at $17.5 billion in total arms transfer agreement values as Egypt ranked second at $11.9 billion and Saudi Arabia placed third with $8.6 billion.

Russia claims the 2017 U.S. defense policy bill eases restrictions on the provision of weapons to Syrian rebels and gives the U.S. government leeway to deliver shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Andrew Osborn writes Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of Russia’s foreign ministry, said Russia views the policy change in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act as a “hostile” move.

The 2017 NDAA includes a provision that prevents the Defense Department from spending funds on anti-aircraft missiles for Syrian militant groups until state and defense secretaries submit a report to Congress in support of such move, Osborn wrote.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the Obama administration opposes the delivery of anti-aircraft missiles called man-portable air defense systems to anti-government forces in Syria, the report stated.