DVIDS – News – 'Airmen Prevail' transforms mental health crisis support for colleagues

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Team McChord's senior sergeants will participate in a three-day peer support program for junior enlisted Airmen from January 29-31, 2024 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Host a symposium.

The Airmen Prevail Symposium will help Airmen learn skills to identify and effectively respond to fellow members facing mental health crises, improving quality of life and restoring Airmen and their families. This course is designed to support and strengthen your strength to the fullest.
“One of the things we've identified is that enlisted Airmen have a lot of training to manage their own mental health and get the resources they need, but what's happening to their teammates? “There's not a lot of training on how to identify what's going on.” U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Major Adam Meisner, 627th Troop Support Squadron 1st Class. “Let's teach our Airmen how to notice, observe, detect, respond and communicate when their colleagues may be in trouble, and how to get them the resources they need.”

Team McChord's First Sergeant Council created the Airman Priority Program to educate, empower and develop Airmen as resources and advocates for their peers. Sergeants from various units and representatives from support services such as the Military Family Life Counselor Program (MFLC), Integrated Prevention and Resiliency Office (IPRO), Chaplain's Office, and Behavioral Health guided the class throughout the course. These organizations teach Airmen how to recognize the warning signs of a mental health crisis, suicide, identify social cues, initiate difficult conversations and improve communication skills. The purpose of this course is to provide Airmen with these skills. Because their unique position as colleagues allows them to connect more closely with others in their ranks, not only at work but also off-duty.

This course will begin in the fall of 2023 and will be the second installment of the program. The 27 Team McChord Airmen who participated represented nearly every branch, and the first sergeants and airmen hope the program continues to grow.

“This course is perfect for wingmen to become first responders to prevent suicide,” said Senior Airman Robert Altalejo, 62d aircraft maintenance integrated avionics technician.

The Airmen Prevail Symposium is now unique to Team McCord. Their goal is to continue to grow this program so that it becomes a standard at Team McChord and to encourage other base leaders and Airmen to implement similar programs to equip Airmen with potentially life-saving skills. It's about encouraging.