HHS Careers’ Post

There has been a number of articles in the news in the past week talking about military suicide and jobs with higher rates. I was reading Leading from the Deep and the author, Diego Ugalde had a great quote about being a Sailor. He said: “Most SEALs walk around with an invisible anvil hanging over their heads, feeling that leadership is willing and capable of ending a career over a perceived mistake…” In recent weeks and months I’ve been hearing a lot of this. This feeling isn’t unique to the Navy SEALs. I’m told the military, especially the Navy, has super high standards and an atmosphere where service members aren’t able to make a mistake. The pressure is immense and takes a psychological toll. Service members feel there is zero tolerance for mistakes on the battlefield or in private life. The two-strikes-and-you're-out promotion system is too harsh. There is so much pressure to perform. Service members feel they are in do-or-die scenarios. Getting smashed with the career-ending anvil unfairly impacts veterans even years after they leave the military. It seems this zero-defect mentality contributes to military mental health issues. To really get at the problem of military suicide there needs to be a way to take the pressure off service members.

A recent report from the United States Department of Defense revealed that military jobs with high deployment pace and exposure to blast waves have higher suicide rates compared to the general population. The data shows that between 2011 and 2021, enlisted job groupings with the highest suicide rates were armored and amphibious vehicle crew members, infantry, combat engineers, explosive ordnance disposal and divers, combat operations control troops, and artillerymen. These specialties saw suicide rates at least 50% higher than the general population during that period. The report suggests that factors like frequent deployments and occupational exposure to explosions may contribute to the increased suicide risk in these combat-oriented roles. This information is crucial for the military to better understand and address the mental health challenges faced by service members in high-risk job specialties. Targeted suicide prevention efforts and support programs could help save lives. #MilitaryMentalHealth #SuicidePrevention #CombatExposure #DeploymentPace #VeteranSupport #MilitaryData #PentagonReport

Opportunity

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Opportunity

3 things to know here ⬇️⬇️⬇️ 🇺🇸 Eligibility: Active Duty Members must have served at minimum 90 continuous days during wartime or 181 days during peacetime. National Guard/Reserves must have 90 days minimum of non-training active duty service or 6 credible years in the Selected Reserves (other terms apply - msg me for more info!). Spouses eligibility is reserved for surviving spouses of a service member or Veteran who died in the line of duty or from service-related disability (void is spouse remarries). 🇺🇸 Time on Station: Buyers should have a minimum of 2 years remaining on duty station where you’ll be purchasing a home. In the event you receive orders before that 2 year mark, call me! We’ll talk over the best options for you, whether that be selling or renting. 🇺🇸 VA Real Estate Experts: When choosing a real estate agent and lender, be sure you choose area professionals who are experts in the VA world! This can be the difference in writing a strong offer that holds up, closing on time, and concessions! I'm always here to answer questions & help you find your next home if you're local to the Offutt AFB area! #militaryfamily #milspouse #militarylife #offuttafb #homebuying101 #firsttimehomebuyer #veterans #veteranowned #realtorlife #realtor

I have been fielding a lot of questions this week all relating to "so what happens when something like this happens?" The establishment of a Unified Command (UC) being run under an Incident Management System (ICS) structure, according to the the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is what happens. Really it means we have the right leadership and the right resources in place to work with multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional partners and a wide variety of stakeholders to bring our strengths and capabilities together to solve the problem as safely, efficiently, and quickly as possible. Coordinated efforts, common objectives, shared resources and support systems. This is what we train for...... So when the time comes, we can step in to our position within the ICS organization and do our part to support the response.

Community + Military + Trust = 😃 Often times, active duty service members will flag an issue to surrounding communities, which they could otherwise not discuss, for one reason or another. For instance, I was not initially tracking the proposed homeowners insurance rate hikes. A #marine, who lived along the coast, was told he couldn’t testify at the state capitol regarding the hikes and their impact on quality of life. So, I testified. Years back, I was quite vocal about concerns surrounding the COVID vaccine and its inconsistent implementation across the Marine Corps. Nearly every concern I voiced was merely an amplification of concerns from SEAs and COs in the greater 5 county area. Most recently, I sat through recruiting sessions which were objectively frustrating to the #Marines in the room. Politics abound, they felt they couldn’t speak up, so I took down their concerns. When we look at successful defense communities, there is one common thread across them all - they are the voice of the base. Whether it’s milcon, policy, or programming, no one knows better than the marines what is needed. But often times, no one can advocate for those things quite like their civilian counterparts. When communities listen to and effectively relay base concerns, you see success. Alternatively, when the trust between community and commands erodes, you see significant struggles. If at any point the bases cannot trust their surrounding community to properly advocate on their behalf, fissures will grow. In larger teams, like Allies for Cherry Point or NCMAC, you’ll find we tend to have passion projects, or areas we’re a bit more focused on than others. For instance, I track the budget and milcon, but solely to back-fill when someone else isn’t available in conversations. My specialty is “people.” If you need to know what the Marines are thinking about any given topic, at any given time, that’s where I come in. Whatever your passion is, identify it, lean in, and use it to support the base. #semperfi 📸: that’s my best friend ☺️ ____________ Association of Defense Communities (ADC) #marinecorps #2maw #2mef #northcarolina #militaryaffairs #milcon #defense #veteransstrengtheningamerica #betheone

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