R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Program sets focus on Domestic Violence Awareness Month

By Courtney Gilley, Army Flier Contributing WriterSeptember 25, 2015

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Program sets focus on Domestic Violence Awareness Month
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT RUCKER, Ala. (Sept. 24, 2015) -- The Army's theme for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October is "It Starts with Respect" and the Fort Rucker Family Advocacy Program stands ready to get the point across to the community.

"We believe that family relationships start with respect. They take work, but they start with respect," said Nicqolle Truitt, family advocacy specialist. "If we could continue to follow our prevention practices, training our troops and providing resource information to our families, then we believe those families will have respect and won't have any situations where there is domestic violence in the family."

The kickoff to the month will be a signing of the 2015 Domestic Violence Awareness Month Proclamation by Col. Shannon T. Miller, Fort Rucker garrison commander, Oct. 1 at 9:30 a.m. in the lobby of Bldg. 5700, with refreshments served after the event.

"We would like to invite the whole community to come out and join us in watching the colonel sign the proclamation and kick off all of our wonderful events for the month," Truitt said.

The family advocacy program is also asking the community to support Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Oct. 2 by wearing purple. The post's mascot, Sgt. Ted E. Bear, will be painted purple by Warrant Officer Career College warrant officer candidates Oct. 18-31 as he shows his support for the effort.

The Fix the Hurt Corporation will visit the installation Oct. 5-6 to host presentations for the community. Five presentations of the "Control.Assault.Delete" program will be performed at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Oct. 5. Additional presentations will be performed at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 6. A performance of "I Have This Friend" will also be presented Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. and will be geared towards parents and teenagers. All of the presentations take place at the post theater.

"It's going to teach teenagers about abusive relationships in teen dating relationships, so they know what the risk factors are in those relationships," Truitt said.

Attendance at the "Control.Assault.Delete" presentations will cover the annual training requirement for domestic violence awareness, per Army regulation 608-18, she said.

"The community is welcome, and we are hoping we can train as many Soldiers as we can during the five presentations on those two days," Truitt said.

But the effort doesn't stop there, as ScreamFree Marriage presentations are scheduled for Oct. 2, 9 and 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Commons, Bldg. 8950. The deadline to register for the event is Sept. 29. Call 255-3898 to register for the event and to discuss childcare coordination.

The presentations will be a reinforcement for those who are about to be married, are newly married or have even been married for a long time. Truitt said that the program understands not everyone screams in their marriage, but the presentation is about more than that.

"It's titled ScreamFree Marriage because there are ways to scream without screaming," she said. "The gist of it is we want couples to work through those tough spots in a marriage or relationship while building a deeper relationship because every marriage is going to have bumps in the road. When you're going through those bumps we want husbands and wives to stay connected because it's possible to not agree, but still love each other."

Various tables with information regarding domestic violence awareness will be displayed across the installation, as well. Those tables can be found in Bldg. 5700, Lyster Army Health Clinic, the library and the post chapel.

The Period of Purple Crying is also a focus of the program during domestic awareness month. This awareness campaign is used to inform parents that it's OK for a baby to cry and for them to let the child cry, said Vicky Harmon, nurse specialist for the New Parents Support Program.

"We'll also be putting out free DVDs and informational booklets on The Period of Purple Crying," she said. "The military has adopted this program, which supplements or replaces the Shaken Baby campaign."

This program, according to Harmon, will be used to teach parents how to adapt to the stages of the child, so if they know what's going on they will know how to react.

Domestic violence, Truitt said, is not just physical, but can also be emotional, sexual, financial or neglect.

"A person might not believe they're being abused because they aren't being hit. There's financial abuse where one spouse is withholding finances from the other, the ID card has been taken, or they can't drive the car and are forced to stay in the house all the time," she said.

A resource library is also available to anyone with a military ID card. The library is home to books, DVDs and reference materials for any interested party.

"Anything that you can think of to help soldiers be a better parent, better husband or wife -- you name it and it's in our resource library," Truitt said.

The family advocacy program encourages anyone who feels like they are a victim of domestic abuse to call their hotline at 379-7947.

For any questions, concerns or desires to file a report, the community may reach the family advocacy program at 255-3898.

"At the family advocacy program, our mission is to prevent domestic violence within the Army family, and we want to prevent child abuse in the Army family," Truitt said. "We are able to do that through programs and services we provide to service members and the community."

Related Links:

USAACE and Fort Rucker on Twitter

USAACE and Fort Rucker on Facebook

Fort Rucker, Ala.

U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence