5-52nd ADA Soldiers, families conduct domestic violence stand down

Sgt. William Bolderson

11th ADA Bde. Public Affairs

The 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade normally coordinates quarterly brigade-wide “stand-downs” to provide battalions a time to put daily operations on hold for a moment and address their soldiers about the importance of safety both on and off the job. Soldiers of 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery, took that training one step further by inviting family members to join their Soldiers and attend the instruction which addressed domestic violence, stress and anger management, and weapons safety, at Kelly Park, Friday.

First Lt. Ban Moore, a battalion operations officer and domestic violence stand-down contributor, said he hoped the Soldiers and their families understood the information delivered at the event, and also enjoyed the barbeque cookout and recreation which followed.

“We wanted this event to be more exciting for the Soldiers and families,” said Moore, “the issues we discuss here are family issues, and not just for the Soldiers. We wanted to educate everyone.”

Dale Patrick and Mildred Rodriguez, from the Family Advocacy Program, provided the first block of instruction on domestic violence. Soldiers and family members received information on types of abuse, reporting procedures, signs of abuse, and disbeliefs about gender stereotypes.

Kristal Key, from Combat Operation Control, provided guidance on relieving stress and anger by taking care of the body, developing good friendships, time management, limiting work hours and other topics.

First Lt. Adam Richardson provided the weapons safety block of instruction and said he was pleased he got the chance to teach and learn at the domestic violence stand-down.

“As the instructor for weapons safety, I feel like I also had an impact on these Soldiers regarding the Fort Bliss policies for weapons registration,” said Richardson. “It was very good training, and I’m very glad we could invite people from these different agencies to come talk to us.”