New public health officer to promote resiliency at Fairchild Published Oct. 26, 2011 By Scott King 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- In addition to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and the Coast Guard, there are also two less-known branches of the Federal Service - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service. At Fairchild, there is now a member of the Public Health Service whose sole purpose is to promote resiliency. Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Simmet, 92nd Medical Operations Squadron Mental Health Flight deputy commander, has been here since July making his rounds around Fairchild meeting as many Airmen as possible teaching them how to deal with stress and become emotionally stronger. "Though the Air Force Resiliency Program is new, the concept is not," Simmet said. "The military in general has always strived to create a tough, efficient and capable fighting force. The more resilient Airmen are, the better able they are to "bounce back" from stressful situations. The resiliency of a unit derives directly from the resiliency of its individual members. My job is to improve the resiliency of the individuals assigned to Fairchild, in turn, improving mission capability as a whole. To do that, our resiliency team performs outreach activities [another term for getting out there to meet people and to tell about all the amazing programs and activities available for them] to help with stress reduction and improve resiliency." Simmet is a member of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. The Corps is comprised of approximately 6,000 officers whose skills range from doctors and nurses to dentists, therapists, scientists and researchers. "We are the healthcare 'arm' of our government and work directly for the U.S. Surgeon General -- I refer to us as the real secret service, because nobody knows who we are," Simmet said. With the increased numbers of U.S. military men and women coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health issues, the DoD, in conjunction with the U.S. Public Health Service, came up with this program to alleviate pressure on mental health providers within the DoD. "I want to make a difference and help improve the daily lives of everyone stationed here," Simmet said. "I do not have delusions of grandeur-I don't have all the answers, but I know the task assigned to me is a big one. Each of us can make a difference-even with something as simple as asking a coworker, "How are you, today?" It may not seem like much, but, without knowing it, you may ask that question when someone needs it the most." In addition to this program to help Airmen cope with stress, the mental health flight also provides classes on suicide and violence prevention; family maltreatment prevention; mental health and well-being; marital, family and individual counseling; pre and post deployment training; first term Airman leadership classes; and any other preventative behavioral health issues as requested. The flight is also part of the traumatic stress response team, where they attempt to mediate the stress response of individuals within an organization when they are exposed to potentially traumatic events. "The most important aspect of my job is being there to help our Airmen when needed. September was a hard one for Team Fairchild when we lost one of our own," Simmet said. "I was part of the traumatic stress response team that went to the affected organization to help them cope with their loss. Our purpose was to reduce or lessen the short-term effects on people who knew the individual so that those effects don't become long-term problems. We try to foster resilience in those who are, or may be exposed to those potentially traumatic events -- this concept of fostering resilience lies at the heart of my purpose and is easily the most important aspect of my job."