Arkansas has developed a mobile training program that now includes the Legion’s suicide prevention mission.
During The American Legion’s centennial year in 2019, the Department of Arkansas began developing a training protocol that could be shared during the department’s convention.
Since then, that program has evolved to include remote training sessions, either for posts or districts – or for a combination of both – throughout the state. And now, that training includes a component from the Legion’s top priority: reducing veteran suicides through its Be the One mission.
During a Be the One training session at the Legion’s Washington Conference late last month, Department of Arkansas Commander Antoine L. Gordon shared that the training sessions provided in his state have begun including a Be the One component. And that’s just the start.
“While we rely on the posts to tell us what their training desires are, my goal is to have Be the One a mandatory curriculum item for all training sessions, to include the Columbia Protocol,” Gordon said in March, referencing the Legion’s Be the One training program that is a collaboration with Columbia University.
Gordon praised Department of Arkansas Membership Chairman William “Doc” Sheets for his work also as the department’s Training chairman. The department’s training team is made up of Arkansas American Legion College graduates, some of whom also have graduated from National American Legion College.
Sheets said he and fellow Legionnaire Jessie Horton developed the first modules and did a few classes during the 2019 department convention. From there, training topics developed that included basic concepts of leadership, history of the Legion, information about our Preamble and emblem, and more.
“We train membership engagement, core training of post operations, etiquette/protocols, Be the One, emergency management and a wide variety of other modules,” said Sheets, adding that the training is meant to be mobile.
“During the (Mid-Winter meeting) and (department) convention, one of the things we tell all of the students is, ‘We will travel.’ This thing is built to travel. ‘You tell us what your ideas are on what you would like to learn,’” he said, noting that the training isn’t set in stone. ‘It’s not a one-size-fits-all,” he said. “I try to manage the training for the needs of that area, good or bad, so they understand everything. We suggest different programs, especially if they’re doing an all-day training. ‘This is what we have to offer. Where do you think you need help in your district, in your post?’
“It’s listening to what the posts need … with the questions we hear when they call the department. And then turn around, sit down and start to build training for those questions to answer them. If we hear one post asking this question, I am sure there’s other posts asking the same question, they just haven’t vocalized it.”
A newer component to each training session is a large Be the One poster with a QR code that takes users to the program’s section on legion.org. Also available are Be the One-branded items such as water bottles and bags to raise awareness about the program.
“We want to put this in the hands of the individuals in the posts, not the department,” Sheets said. “It doesn’t do any good sitting at department. It needs to be out with the posts.
“We may not be doing Be the One (training now), but it’s part of our training program and regimen. As a matter of course, we talk about Be the One … during the training. It’s not a class, but we incorporate that information during training wherever we go. Be the One is something we carry with us.”
Sheets also said that National Be the One Program Manager Tony Cross will be attending the department’s convention in June to present information about the suicide prevention mission.
“What we really want is to watch an entire training (session), and the people that will be instructors for this going forward, I want to make sure they’re in the classes,” Sheets said. “And then we can do these (presentations) better, stronger, faster. We’ve done it from all our level, but seeing it done at the national level, bringing it into the department would be the preferred method going forward to train our Legionnaires to be better at it.”
Sheets doesn’t want the Be the One component to just reach Legionnaires. “We invite Auxiliary, we invite Sons, as well as Legionnaires,” he said. “It’s not just for American Legion members because who better to recognize crisis than those who live in the home?”
Sheets also has made training modules easier to access online. There is an entire page devoted to training on the department’s website. The section includes links to the Legion’s Basic Training Course, National Headquarters’ Training Tuesday page, National American Legion College, Arkansas American Legion College, training videos, and a form for posts, districts or areas to request training or membership revitalizations.
“Training, communication (and) education are critical if we’re going to move forward into the future,” Sheets said.
- Be the One