Leadership learns to help distressed Airmen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sandra Marrero
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
Moody Air Force Base, Ga. --  
Commanders, chief master sergeants and first sergeants attended the annual Behavioral Health Conference here Aug. 14 to learn ways to help Airmen and families in distress.

Speakers encouraged leadership to keep Airmen mission focused through the use of various behavioral health programs.

"We've got to know what's going on with our Airmen and have that intrusive leadership so that we can do preventive maintenance and get ahead of these problems before they [lead to trouble] because it helps them and their families, as opposed to dealing with it after an incident has already happened," said U.S. Air Force Col. Chad Franks, 23d Wing commander.

Those in attendance learned about the Alcohol Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment, family advocacy and Drug Demand Reduction programs as well as mental health services, family violence, military law regarding mental health issues and sexual assault.

However, simple awareness is not enough, according to the presenters.

"It's not only important for them to know what's out there," said Capt. Amanda Sims-High, 23d Medical Group family advocacy officer. "It's also important to highly encourage [Airmen] to seek these services. We can have these services available and know all about them, but we need that extra piece, that extra push, to encourage Airmen in need to talk to the right people."

Subject matter experts taught attendees ways to detect problems that may otherwise go overlooked.

"I think that's very important, because sometimes there are a lot of signs that are missed," said Sims-High. "It's not because people want to miss them. It's because they don't know."

Ultimately, if leadership is aware of the issues affecting their Airmen, they can use the appropriate avenues to intervene with behavioral health concerns before they become a bigger problem such as violence, substance abuse or suicide.

"It's about two things," Franks. "It's about preventive maintenance and intervention. If we don't do preventive maintenance, it's going to impact the mission. These programs are a great tool ... to help Airmen."