Hi Sir,

I am currently in my third year in ROTC and I couldn’t help but respond to your post from a cadet’s perspective. I remember being taught about suicide and how to build a close, yet professional relationship with your subordinates in the military but reading about your personal encounter just explains that, sure, we can be taught in the classroom about this and how we can go about it but it will always be different when we are actually put in the situation. But it great to hear that one of your soldiers was able to call you because he trusts his leader and that is how I would like to go about being an officer in the Army – being able to have soldiers who trust their leader and ask for help when needed.

I believe that the only way that soldiers can come forward is if they see that trust in their leader. Building that trust can come from just having a surface-level conversation to get to know them which then leads to getting comfortable, yet still being disciplined and professional, in front of their leader. It is just the way the leader presents himself to his soldiers to show that he is there for them – that he is approachable. So that way, if the soldier is going through difficult times, he/she can contact his leader to seek help.

But I honestly do not know how I would go about this situation if I ever encountered it. I guess it all depends on the situation, whether I must seek help for that soldier right away or just have a personal conversation with him and see what I can do to help. It is all about adaptation and using my own discretion as a future leader to see what is best for the soldier.

The military tends to, not neglect, but sometimes overlook the fact that soldiers who come back from deployment will not be okay. Their goal is to ‘build’ strong men and women to go fight and win our Nation’s wars, but that does not make them invincible. They will go through unimaginable things which will sometimes affect their mental stability.

It takes two to tango but one to make it move – it is up to the leaders and future leaders like myself to reconstruct the way we view these situations and how that these situations should be approached that will influence others that will really make a positive difference.

Very Respectfully,

CDT Celine Oh