Photo By Cpl. Rebecca Elmy | The III Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, Lt. Gen. John E. Wissler,...... read more read more
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CAMP COURTNEY, Japan - III Marine Expeditionary Force began a new Operational Stress Control and Readiness Master Trainer course April 2 for behavioral health prevention specialists and those trained in Unit Marine Awareness and Prevention Training, UMAPIT, at the Education Center on Camp Courtney.
“OSCAR is a complete capability where you have team members, then your corpsmen and chaplain, and then medical assistance,” said Patricia Walters, a behavioral health prevention specialist for III Marine Expeditionary Force. “It’s for Marines, it’s their own program. If something is not okay you can go to your Oscar team member, which is someone who understands exactly what you’re going through.”
During the course, nine behavioral health prevention specialists along with one Marine officer participated in training to become master trainers in OSCAR.
“I think this course will give us some additional information that hasn’t been there before,” said Walters. “I think just because there’s more people involved in the Oscar program it will spread throughout the commands more efficiently.”
The trainers learned how to first pinpoint noticeable behavioral changes, and then were encouraged to relay the importance of communication and knowing your Marines and sailors day-to-day attitudes.
“My mission is to let the Marines and sailors know they’re responsible for their brother/sister, not in terms of what they already do but behavioral health wise,” said Walters. “I want to teach them they are the first line of defense for their battle buddy and that is a very important job.”
As part of the training, the trainers reviewed different techniques to engage the class for the training to be most effective.
“It changes the attitude of the unit once the class is done,” said Capt. Hoi W. Tam, the executive officer for Headquarters and Service Company, III MEF Headquarters Group. “A change in mindset starts to spread saying, ‘Hey, this isn’t just a check in the box’ and then you’ll see people start taking better care of each other.”
The discussions provided a welcoming environment to help the class become more interactive. They’re encouraged to share real life stories for participants to understand and relate to in order to help themselves and service members navigate through stressful situations.
“This program saves lives,” said Dr. Muhiyyaldin M. Ibn-Noel, the chaplain and the III MEF OSCAR regional training coordinator. “This is about saving a community. We have to use things they understand, punch it in their hearts and make sure they understand.”
They discussed zones of the stress-continuum model, which goes from green: ready to go, to red: encouraged to seek medical attention. The stress-continuum model is a tool to identify how Marines and sailors react under stressful situations. These zones serve as a visual tool for assessing stress responses and steps to go through to diminish stress injuries.
“We have to get this known, understood and utilized,” said Lt. Gen. John E. Wissler, the commanding general for III MEF. “The center target is for Marines and sailors to know what’s available through the command. This will collectively have a long term positive outcome.”
The training focused on preventing overwhelming stress and emphasized the importance of identifying the early stages of stress.
“I want them to know its okay to not be okay,” said Walters. “We all have things in our lives we’re equipped to deal with and some that we’re not. This program will give them the tools they need to be able to help others.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.14.2015 02:23 |
| Story ID: | 159895 |
| Location: | CAMP COURTNEY, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 759 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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