FORT SILL, Okla. - With the demands of today's Army, many Soldiers find themselves facing a myriad of personal issues as a result of psychological distress. These issues plague their physical, mental, and emotional states, and many individuals do not find the time to properly evaluate their own comprehensive fitness and get the help they need to recover.
On January 15th, the Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade took a day to focus on their own resiliency and comprehensive fitness. The battalion conducted a "Suicide and Resiliency Stand-Up Day", in which 100% of the unit attended a two-part training event that took place at the Fort Sill Conference Center and unit classrooms.
The timing of the training certainly was not a coincidence, "Four-day weekends give any Soldier, especially single Soldiers, time to reflect on things going on in their lives," said Capt. Chris Barber, who helped orchestrate the training event. "A single Soldier lives by himself, and thoughts start going through his head. A message like this before a long weekend is important; it's good to have someone to keep you in check."
The morning portion of the event consisted of suicide awareness training at the Fort Sill Conference Center. The unit invited Dr. Thom Balmer, a full-time faculty member at Cameron University who has taught professional counseling and psychology courses, and who has extensive experience working with Families and military personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Balmer, a Vietnam veteran who served with the 82nd Airborne, spoke openly about his experiences during a tumultuous period in America's history. It took years for him to be able to calmly speak about some of his experiences in the Army, but he was proof that it is possible for psychologically wounded Soldiers to heal and recover. He advised his audience to seek help if they have difficulty sleeping or making it through their daily tasks, and he stressed the importance of finding a "resiliency buddy" with whom to discuss thoughts and share feelings.
The afternoon training session took place at the unit headquarters, where each battery and company individually conducted resiliency training at their own classrooms. The smaller group setting facilitated more discussion of resiliency techniques and ways to improve comprehensive fitness.
"I think the training was very applicable to our lives," said Spc. Joshua Cook. "Dr. Balmer has been in a place where we are now with Family. He taught us as someone who has firsthand experience of the life of a Soldier."
The Suicide Awareness and Resiliency Stand Up training was different from typical quarterly suicide and resiliency training sessions that most Soldiers experience. The setting and timeline of the training allowed Soldiers to really focus on the topics of discussion. The block of instruction delivered by Dr. Balmer provided Soldiers with not only advice and techniques to overcome mental and psychological trauma, but with a living example of how warriors can heal after experiencing trauma.
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