JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON –
Nothing is more important than the health and welfare of our service members, civilians and their families, said Army Brig. Gen. Kirk Vollmecke, commanding general, Mission and Installation Contracting Command during his opening remarks at the Sept. 20 suicide prevention and awareness seminar, "Shoulder to Shoulder: Ready and Resilient," at the Blesse Auditorium on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
Vollmecke noted that suicide prevention was so important to the Army and other services, that officials extended its observance throughout the entire month of September.
He said suicides in the Army already number 192 for this calendar year.
"It truly pains me to read about each Soldier we lose. Suicide does not impact just the individual. It touches every person who knew that individual - it hurts the family, the unit and our military. In 2012, as many as 349 military deaths were confirmed suicides or investigated as possible suicides. That number was higher than the number of Americans who died fighting in Afghanistan that same year."
Vollmecke spoke about the family of one of his Soldiers who recently committed suicide.
"I will not forget the pain in the eyes of his parents," he said. "I cannot help but think of how we, as leaders, could have prevented such a tragic loss."
The general pointed to the Army warrior ethos, "I will never leave a fallen comrade behind," which can be a mantra off the battlefield as well by remaining vigilant, reaching out and offering a helping hand to those feeling suicide is the only option.
A few probing questions and a sincere interest may be the key to helping them, he said, tasking each member of the audience to commit to a leadership role by intervening and creating a healthy and supportive environment where a stigma against seeking help does not exist.
Chaplain (Navy Lt. Cmdr.) Joseph Blair, Navy Medical Training Support, presented the idea that suicide prevention is a team effort across all services, referring to both military and civilian presenters and audience members.
Blair identified red-flag behaviors that, he said, tingled his "spidey-sense" or the intuitive feelings leadership and caring bring about. Red-flag behaviors can be both subtle and drastic, such as weight loss, sleep habits, low tolerance levels, loss of interest or energy and isolation.
"If you are an instructor, it's easy to see in your students. One day he or she was a superstar in class - on time, first to raise a hand - and the next week, late, just sitting there unfocused," Blair said. "We have got to ask the questions."
The chaplain also urged leadership and coworkers to pay attention to red-flag words and phrases such as "I can't take it anymore," or "the world would be better off without me," especially on social media sites such as Facebook.
He discussed ACE, an Army acronym that is a tool others can use to identify and get intervention for an individual with suicidal thoughts. The "A" is a reminder to ask questions, the "C" stands for caring and the "E" is a cue to escort or never leave that person alone.
"Be a first responder," Blair said. "Maybe you will save a life."
Changing perception by focusing on what is possible in life was the premise Dr. Heather Ridnour, a master resiliency trainer with the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Training Center spoke about during the seminar.
She said that what is perceived as reality is not always such, using Olympian runner Roger Bannister's feat - breaking the four-minute mile - as an example. Prior to Bannister's record-breaking run, common thought in 1954 was that it was humanly impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes. Doctors agreed and believed as fact at that time that the heart would explode and the lungs would collapse if an athlete attempted to run that fast.
She said that Bannister ran a mile in 3 minutes, 59 seconds. Just 46 days later, Olympian runner John Landy broke Bannister's time, running a mile in 3:58. In the next four years, another 16 runners broke the four-minute mile.
"What you believe is possible is powerful and really important," Ridnour said.
She presented two principles to use for achieving success and removing negative thinking that could lead to suicide: focus on what is possible and change perception.
Using optical illusions as examples, Ridnour challenged audience members to see both pictures in each illusion. In order to see both pictures, a person must change the way he or she thinks she explained.
Closing the seminar, Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert LaBrutta, JBSA/502nd Air Base Wing commander recommended using each of the practical measures and tools presented during the seminar.
"Let's take action when we leave this auditorium today," LaBrutta said. "Suicide prevention is something that never goes away. It's one of the most important things we do. There is only one metric for suicide and that is zero."