ANSBACH, Germany (Sept. 8, 2014) -- During September, heedful drivers, their passengers and pedestrians at Katterbach Kaserne's traffic circle or at Storck Barracks might notice a display of shirts and yellow flags.
The displays are there to commemorate September as Suicide Prevention Month. U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, the command team from 12th Combat Aviation Brigade and members of the USAG Ansbach's Army Substance Abuse Program, or ASAP, helped set the display up Sept. 3 to start off the observational month.
The yellow flags represent active-duty service members that committed suicide, yellow being the color of the suicide prevention campaign.
Attendees at the event included Col. Vincent H. Torza, 12th CAB commander; Command Sgt. Maj. Osvaldo Martell, 12th CAB command sergeant major; Lt. Col. David A. Markiewicz, the USAG Ansbach executive officer; and several other garrison employees who work to prevent suicide.
Markiewicz stressed the importance of taking action in intervention.
"The important thing is, when you get something like that, is to act," said Markiewicz.
"It's a whole of community effort," said Torza, addressing the garrison employees. "In a garrison environment we have all of you that we can rely upon."
For the month of September, ASAP plans to push out information about the resources that are already available, they are scheduled to host an awareness run Sept. 24, and they are scheduled to hold training sessions for different tenant units at the garrison, according to Dr. Shayne Gallaway, suicide prevention program manager for ASAP.
Resources include contacting the behavioral health clinic, confidential reporting, the ASAP office, national hotlines, national military hotlines, military family life consultants, the military police and the religious services office. The contact information for all these resources can be found in the "Related Links" section above.
"In order to help the person, we need to help fix whatever their stressors are -- whatever's causing the real problem," said Gallaway. "There's tons of resources to target those things."
Among the resources for treating the root of the problem, Gallaway mentioned Army Community Service, ASAP, the behavioral health clinic, the military family life counselors, the chaplains.
Beyond normal hours, if a friend is in need, a German emergency room is capable of responding. The military police can also help.
"If [a friend] knows someone is in trouble or someone reaches out to them, they don't have to fix the person, they just have to take them to a helping professional," said Gallaway.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Veterans Crisis Line is available in Europe to Soldiers, their Families, veterans and civilians at DSN 118 or the toll-free 00800-1273-TALK (8255). The number is another resource that can link people with more resources and is confidential.
Gallaway stressed the importance of getting to resources early.
"People wait too long to get help," said Gallaway. "They try and deal with it, and by the time they need help they've got two or three things going on, and it's more than they can deal with."
To learn more, see the "Related Links" section above. Throughout the month of September, more articles will be published on suicide prevention.
Although there is a push for awareness of prevention capabilities in September, suicide prevention is not limited to September, said Gallaway:
"It's something we do all year round."
Related Links:
Army Substance Abuse Program at USAG Ansbach
Behavioral Health Clinic at USAG Ansbach
Military Family Life consultants at USAG Ansbach
Suicide prevention contacts at USAG Ansbach
Emergency contacts at USAG Ansbach
Army.mil story: "Suicide prevention hotline now available in Europe"
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