Soldiers, Families walk to raise domestic violence awareness

Photo By Sgt. Jacob Wachob | COL Kevin Hamilton, Commander of the 531st Hospital Center, Fort Campbell, signs a pledge Oct. 16 to stand with victims of domestic violence.  

FORT CAMPBELL, KY, UNITED STATES

10.16.2020

Story by Spc. Jacob Wachob 

40th Public Affairs Detachment

Soldiers assigned to 531st Hospital Center were joined by their Families, Oct. 16, to learn more about how to prevent domestic violence during an early morning walk in observance of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“We’re walking to bring awareness of domestic violence,” said Col. Kevin Hamilton, commander of the 531st Hospital Center. “We know the sad side of domestic violence and how it can impact readiness, but more importantly how it can impact individuals and relationships. The importance of our walk is to bring awareness, not just to our unit but to the community and Fort Campbell at large.”

The domestic violence awareness 2-mile walk route took participants around the outside of the 531st footprint to promote proper social distancing from other Soldiers conducting physical training mitigating the potential spread of COVID-19. Signs along the walk route shared domestic violence facts.

“There is strength in numbers,” Hamilton said. “We held the event during PT time so everyone participating in PT would see us traversing together in civilian clothes and wearing purple. Our COVID-19 numbers are very low, so we felt this was a good time to hold the event. We spread out as much as possible and social distanced and wore our face masks.”
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “one in four women and one in seven men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.”

Unfortunately, domestic violence has been a rising problem, and our Soldiers need to be able to recognize the issue and seek help, Hamilton said. Soldiers need to develop healthy coping mechanisms in order to work through issues that arise within the home and have the courage to ask for help.
Representatives from the Army Community Service-Family Advocacy Program were onsite to share resources with walk participants.
“It takes a village, and I think the other part of our mission for the event is to encourage people to ask for help and know where to go for help,” Hamilton said. “You have to ask for help, and this is our way of including our Families and showing how we rally around each other. We’re spending more time at home in quarantine, and if we haven’t developed coping mechanisms to deal with these disagreements and stressors things can bubble up.”
Soldiers from the 212nd Combat Operational Stress Control organized the event. Attendees were encouraged to wear purple to show their support for domestic violence awareness and were required to wear face masks and social distance in compliance with COVID-19 safety precautions.
At the end of the walk, participating Soldiers and their Families were invited to sign a banner pledging to stand up against domestic violence.

“My wife said love shouldn’t hurt, but unfortunately that isn’t always the case for other couples,” said Spc. Lucas Lawson, 531st Hospital Center, who wore purple to the walk. “We wanted to come out here and support them and let the other Soldiers and Family members in my unit know we hear them, and we support them when they speak up for help.”
After Soldiers assigned to 531st Hospital Center and supporting units returned from a deployment to New York City in support of COVID-19 medical operations, Families experienced additional stressors and challenges.

“We spent quite a bit of time in New York and away from Family during the early COVID-19 pandemic,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Michele Johnson, senior enlisted adviser of the 531st. “When we came back, we had some episodes between some of our Soldiers and Families, which then took us out of the fight. When people are taken away due to home issues, it really impacts our ability to deploy when needed to. We want to give them the tools to fix whatever issues are between the service members and their Families.”
There are many resources available to Soldiers and Families in domestic violence situations, some of which are embedded in the 531st like the 212nd Combat Operational Stress Control Unit, Johnson said.
“ACS has been a huge proponent for us,” she said. “Last year we held another domestic violence awareness event with them. We also have our own Combat Operational Stress Control Unit that can help. We have an Eagle Reset Program where we can identify Soldiers who are at-risk and dealing with issues whether it’s marital, financial or anything and they can go through a three-day program where they can find ways to deal with their issues.”

One of the first steps in preventing domestic violence is education on how to effectively respond if someone is a victim of domestic violence.

“This awareness event is a steppingstone to creating discussions to prevent domestic violence cases in the future,” said Capt. Briana Shumaker, a psychologist with the 212th Combat Operational Stress Control Unit.
Individuals must do their part to prevent and also report domestic violence, which is why the 531st Hospital Center is doing its share to raise awareness.
“Domestic violence is an uncomfortable topic,” Shumaker said. “We tend to hide it because we don’t want to talk about it, but we want to make it clear that Fort Campbell stands with survivors of domestic violence and encourage them to reach out to available resources and trusted Family and friends.”

That is where the Sergeant Major of the Army’s initiative “This is My Squad” comes in to play, Johnson said.
“It’s about knowing yourself and knowing your Soldiers and encouraging squad leaders to know their Soldiers and have conversations about what’s going on in their relationships and Family lives,” she said.
Events like this create a stronger unit and supports resilience across the board – at home and at work, Johnson said.
“Our business is health care,” she said. “We’ve seen the worst of the worst with COVID-19 when we were deployed in New York. Seeing the impact over there and then experiencing it back at home, it shows a very resilient Soldier. We’ve put our Soldiers to the test and then time and time again they’ve proven they can do it. Keeping them busy, keeping them training, it all helps to make a more resilient force.”

• Date Taken: 10.16.2020
• Date Posted: 01.04.2021 11:02
• Story ID: 386400
• Location: FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US
• Hometown: FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US