Chaplains, assistants train to battle suicide

- excerpt from a newspaper article by Sgt. Jorge Gomez, November 1, 2003 -

Chaplains and their assistant from the Training and Doctrine Command and U.S. Army Recruiting Command came to Fort Lee to gain the skills in training Army leaders to help prevent suicide.

The 24 members participated in the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) “train-the-trainer” course (T4T) over a five-day period Nov. 3–7. The newly certified trainer will be committed to conduct at least three training sessions in the next year for their units.

The Army is investing more than $50,000 for the course, “but that money pales in comparison to saving a Soldier or a family member’s life,” said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Gary R. Moore, deputy installation chaplain.

Among the attendees are three of Fort Lee’s chaplains: Maj. Edward Northrop, 23rd Quartermaster Brigade; Capt. Thomas Lesh, 262nd QM Battalion; and 1Lt. Steven White, 266th QM Battalion.

“ASIST was put together by clinical psychologists out of Canada, an agency called LivingWorks Education,” Moore said. “It was recognized as a successful program, so TRADOC contracted them to train Army chaplain and chaplain assistants.”

More than 400,000 people have gone through the training around the globe, including Norway, Australia, India, Japan, Korea and Mexico, said Kathryn VanBoskirk, ASIST staff team leader.

“Outcome studies show that participants are more ready, willing and able to intervene for someone who has thoughts of suicide,” VanBoskirk added.

The program is designed to give Soldiers and leaders the ability not only to recognize risk but also to do intervention themselves. Whereas before Soldiers would simply receive a lecture on suicide indicators and how to refer the individual at risk to a chaplain, mental health counselor or military police, Moore said.

“We still do the standard briefing, but now we are teaching the supervisors how to personally get involved with intervention,” he said.

ASIST training consists of a two-day workshop, but the train-the-trainer course (T4T) takes an additional three days of developing presentations and conducting peer evaluations.

The leaders use the materials they develop before with peers to take back to their units, where they, in turn, train other leaders in suicide intervention, Moore said.

“The ASIST program is more effective than others in that it is tailored to the individual who is suffering from suicidal thoughts,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Paul Looper, 1st Recruiting Brigade, Fort Meade, MD. “I have a master’s degree in counseling, but this program provides a structure to work with that gives confidence to leaders in suicide intervention.”

For some members of the train-the-trainer seminar it was another stage of development in their experience with ASIST. Staff Sgt. Barry Williams, 6th Recruiting Brigade, USAREC, chaplain assistant noncommissioned officer-in-charge, who took the two-day course two years ago said he has been able to put into practice some of the skills he gained.

“When I go back to my unit I will be training enlisted leader in ASIST for the benefit of their Soldiers, family members and civilian personnel,” Williams said. “It’s an awesome responsibility, but I boldly assume the challenge because it helps the Army and my unit.”

“Anytime that we see a distressed Soldier and are able to bring him out of that darkness and make him more efficient in life, it strengthens our force to carry out the Army mission,” he added.