September was Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School planned activities to raise awareness and highlight resources available for Soldiers, their families, and civilians to mitigate crisis for themselves or someone they know.
SWCS Family Programs scheduled events to connect Soldiers and families with available resources and education to recognize warning signs.
Christin Chavez, director of SWCS Family Programs, emphasized team building, individual building, resiliency, and inclusiveness through several events.
“The goal of Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month is to identify available suicide mitigation resources, education, and training to empower use of these tools and reach out for help,” Chavez said. “We coordinated events such as Ultimate Frisbee, Mindful Yoga, a Resource Rodeo, a keynote speaker, and closing the month out with a 5K run. However, Suicide Prevention is not confined to one month; it must be practiced throughout the year.”
These events are aimed to build trust, togetherness and foster an environment where asking questions about mental health is acceptable and normal dialogue. Paramount to helping and caring for our people is breaking down barriers to develop trust and communicate in healthy ways. “Remember the two Bs, be present and bring hope” is the message Chavez shares with all.
Suicide prevention and awareness is a Department of the Army program and an enduring command priority. Everyone plays an integral part in helping others in this fight.
For Chaplain Lt. Col. Mark S. Miller, SWCS command chaplain, he emphasized hope for those struggling and for those responding to the incident.
“A person who is in distress is a person without hope,” Miller said. “Give some of your hope to others, as hope gives options they may not see.”
Miller added that we have an important role to serve as a resource in the commander’s prevention and response. The effects are far reaching, including families and teams.
“Make a concerted effort to make real connections among teams and workplaces,” Miller said. “Our role is to take care of people. Let’s do that together.”
This month also brings to the forefront survivors with personal stories. These stories can provide all of us with examples of a way to deal with crisis. One such example has led to an event that spotlights his hope and recovery. The following example excludes the name of the individual to protect his privacy, but allowed his personal story of triumph to be used to help others.
The culminating event for this month is a 5K run named “Run for Your Life.” The origin of the 5K came from a former student’s experience with hopelessness and relayed to Chavez as his gift of hope to others. Chavez explained his story; the student was at the very lowest point in his life. The student recognized his low point and voluntarily entered counseling. Upon working through his struggles at counseling, he discovered he was avoiding formerly enjoyable activities. He was encouraged to begin running again, an activity that he enjoyed but had lost. Through running, he started feeling better, began recovering and renewed his hope. He described his recovery as “I literally ran for my life.”
“If there's one (person having this experience), there's more, there must be,” Chavez continued. How can we use this Soldier’s experience?” When he said, I literally ran for my life, it became clear to me that we need to make this a run, and there was born Run for Your life.
The 2023 Run for Your Life will be the second year for this 5K run. It is the cumulating event for SWCS Suicide Prevention and Awareness month.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 and press 1 for the Military Crisis Line.
The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) at Fort Liberty, N.C., is one of the Army's premier education institutions, managing and resourcing professional growth for Soldiers in the Army's three distinct special operations branches: Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations.
For more information about the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, visit www.swcs.mil.
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