‘You don’t need to fight by yourself’: American Military Family visits Brownwood to help Veterans & First Responders
BROWNWOOD, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – An outreach group from Colorado called American Military Family visited Brownwood to give a seminar and personalized therapy to local Veterans and first responders.
American Military Family is a Veteran support group whose mission is to stop the epidemic of Veteran and first responder suicide. With a motto of “taking our Veterans from suicidal to successful,” the group approaches the aid of their clientele in a different manner. They model much of their treatment tactics after military culture, with most of the staff members of the organization being Veterans themselves.
Founder of American Military Family Debbie McElhinney shared that one of the methods they use is dubbed a Q.R.F. or Quick Reaction Force. They utilize this tactic when an individual who is under their care is facing a mental health crisis or has disappeared from the program.
“We formed a Quick Reaction Force team. A Q.R.F. team combined of Veterans and first responders throughout the country who know how to serve others who have been like them. They use the skills they learned in the military to find and apply where that Veteran might be, and then they put boots on the ground and go to them. The first objective: earn their trust. You don’t need to fight by yourself,” McElhinney said.
Pepe Ramirez is a retired Sergeant Major from the United States Marine Corps who now works as a therapist for the organization, and he illustrates how his military experience has helped him help others.
“I used to be a drill instructor also, so I’m not a kinder, gentler therapist. I hold them accountable. I’m going to tell them the way it is. I’m going to say, ‘Hey, look, this is what I’ve gone through.’ and there’s been times when a lot of Veterans would argue with me, and I’m like, Cool. That’s great. You’re fighting. That’s what I want. I’m your comrade. I got your back,” Ramirez explained.
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American Military Families was invited to the Brownwood area by local Vets who saw a need for programs like this one in their community. Commander of American Legion Post 196 in Brownwood, Paul Wade, spoke about the Veteran population in the area being in desperate need of relief.
“We’ve had four Veterans commit suicide here in the last couple of months. We’ve got over 5,000 Veterans in the area, and the VA here in town… although they’re doing a good job, I’m not going to deny that, they can’t cover everything,” Wade said.
American Military Families hosted a seminar on February 28th at the Lyric Theater in downtown Brownwood.
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