Great topic, and I figure the only way we’ll make progress is by talking about. This is a very personal subject for me, both for family and unit experiences, which I will elaborate on as necessary. I’ve only had one serious incident so far, which doesn’t make me an expert, but it may be one more than some here have had, so hopefully it helps. To stay focused, I’ll try to stick to your questions:

1. How can you create a climate within your organizations where Soldiers can come forward without fear of reprisal?

It takes constant effort, but I make sure I talk to my Soldiers informally as much as I can. Open Door Policy, aggressive informal Retention counseling, offering coffee to whoever comes by, etc. It’s not a complete answer, but I’ve had some very positive feedback and our EOA said we scored amongst the highest he’s ever seen for “Trust in Leadership” on our Command Climate Survey. I’ll take that as an indicator we’re doing the right thing.

2. What are your battle drills when and if you come face to face with this
situation?

We had an NCO put a gun to his head a few months ago. His battle buddy was with him, the alert roster got activated, and the gun was surrendered before the police were on the scene. Each of us visited him several times in the hospital, and it became quickly apparent this has been a growing function of PTSD that he didn’t think he could talk about. When he realized, overwhelmingly, that he could talk to all of us about it, he got a lot better. Following his local hospitalization, he spent 30 days at a facility in Texas, which was also a significant positive event. “Alert roster and swarm” might not be the most elegant battle drill, but it worked in this case, and the quantity of personnel involved directly showed that NCO that people care.

3. What advice can you give to PLs and Commanders who may come face to face
with this situation?

The Chaplain was/is an amazing asset, and I learned to get him involved early and often. Also, critically, we have a spouse with prior experience that engaged this NCO’s spouse. Looking back on it, I’d say the NCO’s spouse’s fear/apprehension of my NCO’s PTSD was a significant contributing factor. Easing that fear in her had immediate results with my NCO.

Going forward, our Post is building a “Crisis Care Team Training” to train members of the FRG to deal with these situations. Where we’re struggling is having zero volunteers so far, outside that spouse who had similar training at a previous post. It’s hard to publish the “good news story” that a spouse reacted correctly without publishing a “bad news story” that a Soldier was suicidal in the first place. Additionally, our Chaplain has made this his top priority, and has been speaking in each Company on both Awareness and Prevention.