FORT RILEY, Kan. - The 1st Infantry Division and Irwin Army Community Hospital hosted the Victory Mental Health Summit at the Riley Conference Center on April 28, 2022.
As part of 1ID’s commanding general’s Operation Victory Wellness campaign, the summit was held with approximately 100 community members from across Kansas and Big Red One Soldiers in attendance to learn more about mental health and what Fort Riley is doing to work with the community to improve mental health.
“The reason we are doing this is to help each other,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. D.A. Sims, Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley. “Mental health is a big deal. We are trying to find ways we can help each other and achieve synergy inside the community.”
In addition to the number of mental health and substance abuse programs available to 1ID Soldiers and Family members, there is also the Military and Family Life Counseling Program, where individuals and Families can seek counseling and not have any of the information shared during the counseling session.
“I encourage our service members and their family members to use the resources that are available in the community and on post,” said Maj. William B. Pitts, the Director of Behavioral Health for Irwin Army Community Hospital. “If you are in need of help, reach out.”
During the summit, local mental health professionals were given more information about Operation Victory Wellness, the 1ID program geared towards the improvement of individual Soldiers’ health and building unit cohesion through a holistic approach that focuses on the five dimensions of strength -- emotional, social, spiritual, physical and family.
“Victory Wellness is a great program and it has a positive impact on our Soldiers and their families, but also extends out into the community,” said Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Bill Turner, the Director of the Kansas Commission of Veterans Affairs. “I think the Victory Wellness program is building a camaraderie within units as well as out in the community to bring us together as One Family.”
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