Photo By Sgt. Michael West | 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division paused unit training to host a...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas – “Just because someone can carry the weight, doesn’t mean that it isn’t heavy,” said former Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, in an address to the AUSA in 2020. “We must seek balance between readiness and other ambitions. The first step we are taking is giving time back to unit commanders to invest in people.”
2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division paused unit training to host a Foundational Readiness Day culminating in a Suicide Prevention Tactical Challenge held at the brigade footprint on Fort Bliss, Texas, May 27, 2021.
Foundational Readiness is designed to tie-in with 1st Armored Division’s Operation Ironclad, targeting the three main corrosives that erode trust and cohesion in the formation: Extremism, Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment, and Suicide. The focus for May was suicide and suicide prevention.
“We must forge disciplined teams of warriors who pursue excellence for the next fight,” said Col. Michael P. Wagner, 2ABCT commander. “The environment of dignity and respect in this team helps us harness the variety of capabilities that our skilled and talented people have so that we can build readiness and ultimately prevail in ground combat against the enemies of America. This is our foundation---ergo Foundational Readiness and why it is so important to put people first.”
The event would not have been such a success without the efforts of the 2ABCT Behavioral Health Team.
“The purpose of this event was to spread awareness on suicide prevention and to build unit cohesion which I think was accomplished here today,” said Capt. Kareshma Pooran, 2ABCT Behavioral Health officer.
Starting from the morning, subordinate units conducted company-level morale physical training.
Following the PT session, Soldiers broke up into smaller groups. They watched a short scenario on suicide prevention following the “Ask, Care, Escort” or A.C.E. model and went over tools to use to identify risk factors for Soldiers that may have thoughts of harming themselves. These groups also engaged in open dialogue sharing experiences relating to suicide and mental health.
The final event of the day was the Suicide Prevention Tactical Challenge. All seven of the subordinate battalions provided 4-Soldier teams that carried a litter with 100-pounds of weight on it across a distance of about 1.5 miles.
Each team made stops along the way in front of each of the battalion’s motor pools to answer questions relating to the training they received throughout the day. Every correct answer given removed weight from the litter.
1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment won with the fastest time.
“I think this foundational readiness event went really well,” said Cpl. Serina Perez, a combat engineer with 40th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2ABCT. “I feel as a team leader that my Soldiers through our open discussion and this physical event, are better equipped to recognize and more importantly take action to help Soldiers that may be struggling with suicidal thoughts.”
| Date Taken: | 05.27.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.27.2021 22:29 |
| Story ID: | 397665 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Foundational Readiness:Suicide Prevention Tactical Challenge, by SGT Michael West, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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