Subject: Military Task Force to End Military Suicides Town Hall
The Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento (ICGS) will host a town hall from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Assumption Church, 5057 Cottage Way, Carmichael, CA 95608 March 3, 2020 to explore integrating Faith-Based Initiatives into the Counter-suicide Task Force that the California National Guard and National Guard Association of California are forming.
The NGAC will provide an overview of the Counter suicide Task Force Plan at the town hall. Brig. Gen. (CA) Pete Cross will brief a working memorandum of understanding the CNG/NGAC is working to support the 115th Area Support Group’s suicide prevention with community-based resources and to reinforce the 640th Aviation Support Battalion’s Suicide Prevention Program.
CNG State Chaplain (COL) Scott Forsyth, will discuss chaplain service requirements needed to maintain parity with CNG Military Behavioral Health Services. Followed by a discussion of how Interfaith Organization volunteers can help fill these gaps with Faith Based expertise such as Psychotherapy, marriage and family counseling that the Military is now permitted to use under Amended Presidential Executive Order 13279—Faith Based Initiatives.
COL (CA) Susan Pangelinan, Behavioral Health Agency Coordinator at California National Guard, will explain how the Counter suicide Task Force fits into the State Military Department’s suicide Awareness program; and Brig. Gen. (Retired) Jim Combs, Employer Support to the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), Chairman of the California Committee, will brief volunteer opportunities available to the ICGS through the ESGR ambassador program.
The Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento, incorporated in 1911 as the Federation of Churches, serves greater Sacramento by recognizing that the entire faith community can work together to foster greater understanding and respect among people of different faiths, and to discover that together we can make a difference in the areas where we share common ground and purpose.
Point of contact for this press release is the National Guard Association of California at (916) 362-3411.
Any positive assistance to help our guardsmen and women gain control over suicide is a step in the right direction. Our Behavior service people are too few, and the Chaplains are restricted in what the interfaith organization can give openly.
I would caution you to run advertisements and even inter-department memos on FAITH BASED involvement past the JAG. We know that the non-Christian based political jerks will attack you.
I wish NGAC success in what ever good they can give that helps people live life to the fullest.
John Jackson
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It appears you have valuable experience and insight that can be beneficial CSM Jackson. There will always be politics that we must tactfully deal with, and so-called “political jerks” whom we must understand and negotiate with compassion. Fighting with them will only further the divide.
Do you think you can step from the open forum into the backrooms of planning, compromise, and execution to “help our guardsmen men and women gain control over suicide?”
In my opinion, your experience, knowledge, and skills are valuable, and you still have much purpose in broader scheme of things if you feel you can stand on our common ground and take the next steps, to use your words, “in the right direction.”
My invitation to you still stands. The door is open. What do you think?
Stan