Pope SFS members, augmentees train for Domestic Violence Response

Published Oct. 4, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Jon LaDue
43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is a serious issue in the United States and affects thousands of families each year.

What many fail to realize is that as dangerous as domestic violence is to the victims and their families, it is just as dangerous to the law enforcement professionals who respond to it.

More than 50 Pope security forces members received "hands-on" Domestic Violence Response training in an empty Picerne Military Housing unit Sept. 22.

The members, consisting primarily of 43rd and 440th Security Forces Squadron members, as well as augmentees from many different squadrons across Pope, received classroom training and attended a Family Advocacy briefing prior to beginning the practical exercise.

Maj. James Hodges, 43rd SFS Commander, said SFS members receive this training in part during technical school but staying proficient on it is difficult because of the deployment tempo here.

"Training is the key to success and the members will only perform as well as they are trained," Major Hodges said.

The hands-on portion of the training was intense. The trainees were positioned down the road of the housing unit and did not know the nature of the calls they were responding to. The role playing members tried very hard to simulate real world situations that can be difficult to respond to for a SFS member.

There were scenarios of loud parties with large amounts of people, domestic disputes between couples that sometimes involved children and even standoffs with disgruntled housing residents who had weapons.

Some of the situations had the responding SFS members being ignored, threatened and even attacked.

After each scenario, the trainees were asked how they felt it went and then were provided constructive criticism. Major Hodges told stories of recent real-world incidents that have taken place and reminded his Airmen that the danger is real, regardless of who is responding or where.

The major emphasized to each group of trainees that they must take control of the situations.

It's not about making friends, it's about safety and everyone going home at the end of the night, Major Hodges said.

Staff Sgt. Nathan Smith, 43rd SFS, works in the training element and helped direct the instruction and recap portions of the training.

"The training better prepares our Airmen to respond, react and neutralize situations that can quickly get out of hand if not handled right," Sergeant Smith said. "We want them to realize that every response will be different and the danger to themselves, as well as others, can change at any given moment."

Each group responded to two rounds of training, which meant the trainees could improve their techniques after the first round. Sergeant Smith was happy with the results.
"You can never have enough training, but overall I would say it went very well. We received nothing but praise from everyone that attended," Sergeant Smith said. "Our major improvement was the Airmen were able to key in a lot more on the body language and gestures of everyone involved in the scenarios."

Major Hodges said the training assists SFS members by teaching them when and how to escalate and de-escalate a situation to bring a peaceful resolution to every incident. This can benefit everyone at Pope, including the responding forces.

"Domestic violence is one of the most dangerous incidents a police officer can respond to. Entering a residence can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable," Major Hodges said. "My security forces members are top notch and I have every confidence in their abilities to respond to situations and handle each one accordingly."

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