Base officials seek peace at home

  • Published
  • 4th Medical Operations Squadron Family Advocacy Office
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  October is domestic violence awareness month, but the staff at the family advocacy office here wants to ensure all base personnel and their families are conscious of domestic violence issues year round.

"Our mission in family advocacy is the prevention and treatment of domestic violence and child abuse through education programs and reaching out to families before the abuse occurs," said Jerome Ellis, a family advocacy outreach manager from the 4th Medical Operations Squadron. "Our focus is mission readiness and making sure our Airmen are 'fit to fight.' We do this by providing services to families that assist them with the ongoing challenges associated with mission and family."

Domestic violence occurs when two people get into an intimate relationship and one person uses a pattern of coercion and control against the other person during or after the relationship. It often includes physical, sexual, emotional or economic abuse.

Domestic violence is the single largest cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the United States, more than muggings, car accidents and rapes combined, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians. Men are also at risk of domestic violence.

"Our community is not immune, and domestic violence is often referred to as an equal opportunity crime," said Leanna Torres, a family advocacy treatment manager. "Even one incident is one too many."

The problem is widespread.

"One out of every four couples will be exposed to some form of domestic abuse in their lifetime," Mr. Ellis said.

In order to combat domestic abuse, the family advocacy office offers multiple ways to help couples cope with the stresses associated with relationships. Classes on couples communication, anger and stress management and parenting aim to prevent domestic violence.

"We have to foster an attitude of prevention before an incident occurs," Mr. Ellis said.

The most important way of preventing domestic violence is by all community members reporting witnessed incidents of neglect, abuse or domestic violence, he said.

Additionally, the 4th Fighter Wing has adopted a quarterly program called "Fitness for Life" in which several domestic-violence prevention classes are made available to base personnel and their families.

Programs are sponsored by the base integrated delivery system team which consists of multiple on-base agencies that assist in providing accessible services to the base community.

The IDS team promotes strong individuals and families through spiritual and emotional growth and mental and physical health. This empowers all community members to not only adapt but thrive on the unique challenges with the Air Force way of life, he said.

"We want our community to be a model of what we would consider peaceful homes," Mr. Ellis said. "Hopefully, we'll build relationships that other societies and communities can emulate."