Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Tomora Nance | Soldiers with the Regimental Engineer Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, move tactically...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – September is designated as Suicide Prevention Month, and one squadron commander is doing her part to help raise awareness within her unit through team building and resiliency techniques.
Lt. Col. Lynn Ray, the Regimental Engineer Squadron commander, held two days of an event in early September called Bonding with the Squadron Commander, which helped hone in on suicidal behaviors within others and build resiliency skills used to combat negative thinking. The first day focused on female Soldiers in the ranks of specialist and below at Peaceable Kingdom. The second day was geared toward the male Soldiers in the ranks of specialist and below at Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area.
“So, we had two events. The first event was with the E-4 and below females, in which, I do not have many in the squadron. So this particular focus group, I believed I could connect with being that I use to be them,” said Ray, who started her career as an enlisted Soldier before becoming a commissioned officer. “And, the second event was for the E-4 males and below. I wanted to do a wide array of focus groups throughout the squadron; this was for my junior enlisted Soldiers.”
Ray already met with different focus groups to include the sergeants and above within the squadron. This was just another way to ensure everyone’s voice was heard.
“The idea of having these two events came from a sensing session I had with the Soldiers in the unit and some of those same Soldiers made comments to the squadron chaplain, saying how much they would enjoy to talk to the SCO off site,” said Ray. “Also, the Soldiers expressed how much they were interested about hearing my experiences while I was enlisted.”
“We had the opportunity to talk with the SCO and learn more about her,” said Spc. Josephine Escober, a human resources specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, Regimental Engineer Squadron, 3d Cav. Regt. “We learned so much about our SCO, the other female enlisted Soldiers and more importantly about ourselves.”
Escober continued, “We had a formal and an informal segment during our bonding with the SCO day. During the formal portion, we used a workbook to work as a group and come up with different problem solving techniques.”
Not only did the Soldiers use the Building a Stronger Warrior workbook and complete written exercises during both bonding days, they participated in physically demanding events designed to build camaraderie and esprit de corps.
“I had a blast playing paintball with the other male Soldiers in my unit and, seeing the commander out here with us made the day even better,” said Pvt. Joseph Lasko, a Soldier with the squadron. “We learned resiliency skills that can help us and others to prevent suicide amongst our battle buddies and in our unit.”
Whether it’s a 50-foot, rock-climbing wall, zip lining over 60 feet in the air, or paint balling in teams, both bonding with the SCO events were set to build resilient Soldiers and help them identify suicide ideations in others to help build a stronger team and Army.
“During the bonding days, I discussed how to be resilient during crisis and to get on the other side of it by making it a win, win situation,” said Ray. “We did things that Soldiers thought they would never do such as rock climbing or zip lining. They overcame a fear instead of letting it govern their actions. This all proves how resiliency helps builds a foundation to see yourself stronger than you thought.”
According to a Department of Defense suicide report, 266 active-duty service members committed suicide in 2015.
“Both events came out of a need to combat suicide within the Army amongst active-duty service members,” said Ray. “ The class focused on identifying warning signs or behaviors to help a fellow Soldier in time of need; it also helped build upon skills learned through the Army’s Master Resiliency Training program.”
Ray said after both days the response she received from her Soldiers who attended were immensely positive.
“After both of these events, I will encourage my fellow commanders to do similar events with their Soldiers. I learned so much about my soldiers, and I know they are stronger more resilient because of the training and the activities. We are definitely a more cohesive unit,” said Ray.
“I love that our SCO did this with us. She is truly a one of a kind commander, and I feel events like these are important to Soldiers. I truly had a wonderful time and can’t wait to do this again,” said Escober.
| Date Taken: | 09.26.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.27.2016 17:38 |
| Story ID: | 210765 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Bonding with squadron commander: one commander’s approach to combatting suicide, by SFC Tomora Nance, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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