Veterans Helping Veterans

At SF Training we believe that the key to reducing the veteran suicide rate is a comprehensive package with all the usual suspects including psychological support, medical cover, a streamlined and efficient compensation and pensions system however, the gorilla in the room is the real lack of the sense of belonging.  This feature may explain a higher suicide rate from those veterans that have never served overseas.  We have to understand that this demographic have the same loss of belonging albeit with one less fundamental support network, (operational veteran network) available to tap into.

We believe that it is imperative for discharging veterans to form bonds and associate with those who have a similar past as soon as practical after discharge, if not before.  And that the discharging veteran begins re-integration back into society within this protective veteran based umbrella as quickly and as smoothly as possible.  He or she needs to build a life, to be proud of what they have achieved and to stand on their own two feet once again.

At SF Training we maintain that link and we talk the talk.  We have walked in their boots and utilise training and equipment familiar to the veteran.  We place them in charge of and immerse them amongst civilian teams during group activities.  This provides the perfect opportunity for the veteran to establish networks and broaden their support base.

They need a hand up, not a hand out.

BACKGROUND

My name is Tim Cuming; I am the Director of SF Training, the training arm of SF Solutions Pty Ltd.  I served in the regular army from 1984 until my medical discharge suffering from PTSD in late 2008.  Before 2006, I had virtually no knowledge of PTSD and didn’t have the slightest idea of what it involved. I do now.  For me it hit like a freight train, one minute I was a paratrooper, an extremely capable Company Sergeant Major, (CSM), in The Third Battalion, PARA. With a posting order to The Army Parachute Training School, (PTS), as the Regimental Sergeant Major, (RSM), firing on all eight cylinders and the next, I was a broken individual not having a clue what was happening, where I was going,  what I was going to do and really not caring about any of the above.

I loved the army, had always loved the army and from the age of three years old, all I had ever wanted to do was be a paratrooper.  At the beginning of my deployment in Baghdad I remember thinking that if I wasn’t married with children I would have stayed in Iraq forever; six months later I had a complete meltdown, I couldn’t function, my life spiralled out of control.  My beloved career evaporated and I was out of here, I so get it.   My bucket was overflowing; I had, without even realising it, had enough.

My then wife told anyone who would listen that, “My husband went to Iraq and a complete stranger returned”.  I struggled to be a father and a husband.  I turned my back on the world and most importantly, I had lost the one thing that I had always been, a soldier.  My support network, my mates and my entire world had disappeared overnight.

I could not sleep; the faces of the men I had placed in boxes were replaced by those of my children, my dreams so disgusting that I was scared to close my eyes.  Not that it mattered, because the horror show kept playing, regardless of whether I was awake or asleep.  So I didn’t.

Going to the supermarket used to be so simple, as was taking the family out for a meal, filling the car with petrol or holding a conversation, but not anymore.  I’d had enough.

I was out of here, it all made perfect sense, I had a plan, it was going to sort out everybody’s problems.  In retrospect, it made absolutely no sense to anybody else, but that didn’t matter because at the time it made perfect sense to me.

I actually chuckled as my thought process mimicked the suicide prevention lesson I had given the troops.  I took out money as gifts, I wrote letters and I brought flowers.  I felt better than I had in a long time, although to the core I was completely miserable and distraught.  On another level, I for once was actually happy.  On a tip off from my ex wife, I was pulled over by the police and my plan was thankfully destroyed.  I thank her as it is the only reason I am writing this today; when people talk suicide, when a veteran suicides, I get it, we veterans so get it.

I didn’t have a transition plan, I didn’t have a network and I didn’t have anything positive to put my energy into.  What I did have, was service and more importantly life experience, something the younger veterans don’t necessarily have.

The DVA provided me with the necessary financial safety net that enabled me to keep going.  They provided me with my qualifications in physical fitness which enabled me to pursue my goals to not be a burden.   To stand once again on my own two feet; however, what it didn’t provide was a network, a support group and a sense of belonging, a sense of pride and the will to push on.

My healing, my sense of belonging was not through medication, through counselling or seminars.  It was through physical exercise and becoming a member of a volunteer men’s fitness group.

I started training with them and before I knew it, I started feeling better.   Less withdrawn, they looked up to me, respected my service and within no time I was running the sessions.  Not only did it help me immensely but I also became aware of the individual mental struggles these local guys were having for their own reasons and most importantly I began to realise how this was helping them.

We were doing hard core Battle PT, something I could relate to and that the civilians loved doing.  To them, it was hard tough and different, to me it was hard tough and familiar.  It was my link to what I had loved and it made me feel much better, in essence it was my healing process.

PROPOSAL

SF Training conducts military styled group training utilising Zodiac assault craft, logs, ropes, ammo boxes and jerry-cans to name a few.  This equipment is very familiar to the veteran; they approach it with a sense of confidence and understand it.  They are comfortable around the equipment and training, contrary to the civilians' members of the group, who are in awe of it.

Defence personnel by nature thrive on exercise such as running, resistance, and most importantly team based training.  Physical exercise not only strengthens the veterans' body, it also releases endorphin’s, removes the focus of the mind from stressors and unpleasant thoughts.  This allowing the veteran to really focus on their mind and body, allowing them to gain control.  In addition, exercise can help the veterans' nervous system to become 'unstuck', allowing them to start the healing process.

To the veteran their past life and experiences was normal.  To the civilians, this world is the stuff of movies.  The potential for both groups to cross-pollinate is huge.  Whenever we have had current serving members or veterans participating or facilitating with the training, the response from the civilian members of SF Training has always been extremely supportive.  They hold both the veteran and current serving members in very high regard.

SF Training can provide Defence and the Department of Veterans Affairs the opportunity for the transitioning and already discharged veteran to gradually integrate into civil society.  All this whilst undertaking a unique although familiar physical fitness regime.

This opportunity allows the recovering veteran to train alongside other veterans in similar circumstance to themselves.  They will work alongside instructors with a comparable background and experiences.  This will enable them to better forge networks and support groups, thereby assisting the veteran with the transition from military to civilian life.

As far as the veteran is concerned, we at SF Training speak the same language.  To the civilians who participate it is a different world and they really enjoy the, (to them), unique experience.

To the soldiers and ex defence personnel, the concept and training is familiar and therefore comforting.  To the transitioning or discharged veteran, they have the best of both worlds’.  Staff who understand the unique challengers that they are facing, with a familiar training framework and association with access to motivated members of the community.

CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS, CONOPs

SF Training provides the ideal vehicle to support newly discharged veterans by absorbing them into the SF Training PT program.  The aim of this program is to help the veteran to establish trust and rapport and to build supporting networks.  Ultimately, it’s to give the veteran the skills and confidence to stand on their own two feet, regardless of where they are in relation to their PTSD or other injuries.

The veteran will work alongside other veterans and civilians, initially helping setting up the training area and generally just being involved at their own pace.  Some will assimilate quicker than others, depending on where they are medically and for some we understand it will not be an option.

Currently, SF Training offers hourly military style PT sessions twice per week. Our aim is to expand the number of sessions to multiple sessions daily.  At the heart of SF Training, are the challenges.  These much anticipated training events bring together veterans and civilians to battle it out, side by side.  SF Training has previously run these challenges quarterly and this year, due to popular demand, SF Training has been fortunate enough run challenges on a monthly basis.

We will conduct sessions in different locations with the main sessions starting around 0500h, which will encourage sleep for those who are having sleeping issues.  Most SF Training sessions go for around an hour with some of the weekend challenges running for up to four hours.

PT always finishes at a local coffee shop allowing the veterans and civilians to mix on a social level.  Therefore, breaking down the barriers and encouraging networking with members of the group.  The concept is that after around 30 minutes or so, most of the civilian members of SF Training will have left the cafe allowing the Team Leaders and the participating veterans to remain.  This enables them to exchange ideas and to share their stories.  It is well established that along with physical exercise, getting your story out and speaking with your peers is extremely beneficial for those suffering from PTSD, anxiety or depression.

It doesn’t matter if you are missing both legs or have invisible injuries you will belong to the SF Training family.

WHAT CAN SF TRAINING OFFER?

Specialised CERT III and IV courses. Customised to the veteran community.

Suicide prevention training, by those that have been there.

Support for living with PTSD by those who have lived it.

Integration training.

Transition stories.

Well established network and connections.

Tangible pathways to the healing process.

We also know from personal experience that if we can capture that individual before it’s too late and get them back on track we have a chance of saving them.

WHAT SF TRAINING NEEDS

SF Training needs to establish a physical base in the Sandgate / Brighton area.  This will allow SF Training set up a gymnasium for both civilians and veterans facilitating networking and integration.  It will also provide lecture rooms enabling us to run Certificate III and IV fitness training and all PTSD and suicide prevention training.

Most importantly SF Training needs support from the agencies such as DVA, VVCS, and other ESO’s such as Mates for Mates to connect those discharging veterans and others at risk with our SF Training program.