Resiliency is one key to preventing suicide, said Army Capt. Tanya Phillips, suicide prevention program manager for the Arkansas National Guard, seen here after leading training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson in Little Rock, Ark., on April 17, 2010. "The resilience is not learned as it might have been in past generations," Phillips said. (U.S. Army photo by SSG Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. – Two uniformed Arkansas National Guard Soldiers visit homeless shelters and food pantries in a Little Rock neighborhood, joined by a dozen police officers.

Someone has called to report concern about a servicemember’s welfare. Neither the Guard nor police nor other civilian agencies have been able to track down the troop, and it has come down to house-by-house inquiries in an area where a cell phone provider has reported the servicemember last used his phone.

“The Arkansas National Guard cares about every Soldier and every Airman and – our adjutant general has said – every servicemember that is in our state boundaries … and they served their country, we care enough to drop everything and help them,” said Army Capt. Tanya Phillips, suicide prevention program manager.

Arkansas is one of many National Guard states – others include California, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin  – that have gone above and beyond in responding to a spike in military suicides. Arkansas had one such death in 2008, seven in 2009.

What Arkansas has done in the last 14 months makes for a case study in response.

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. (2/5/10) – A former medical researcher is set to become the Ohio National Guard’s first Silver Star recipient since the Korean War in a Saturday statehouse ceremony.