Battle-hardened Marines to conduct stress debriefing on surviving SAF men

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): Battle-hardened Marines to conduct stress debriefing on surviving SAF men

In line with the government efforts to rehabilitate and make fit again for further duty, battle-hardened Marines, who experienced bloody battles during their tour of duty in Mindanao, have started providing stress debriefing to Special Action Force (SAF) members who survived the bloody battle encounter in Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc on Thursday expressed hopes that the initiative that started on Feb. 3, would help ease the pain suffered by surviving SAF men.

Around 44 SAF men were killed in the battle with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters last Jan. 25.

The encounter stemmed from a operation to neutralize Malaysian terror-bomber Zulkifli bin Hir alias " Marwan" and Basit Usman, a bomb expert believed to be behind the bombing of Fitmart Mall in General Santos City on April 22, 2002 that led to the deaths of 15 individuals.

Cabunoc said stress debriefing was conducted by Marine Battalion Landing Team 1 (MBLT-1).

He also said that the PSP (psychosocial processing) for 42 surviving members and comrades of the 55th SAF Action Company (SAC).

“My unit has experienced bloody encounters in the past and this helped us connect with our comrades from the Philippine National Police. They were able to unload most of the pain and this is important for people who are grieving,” MBLT-1 commanding officer Lt. Col. Ronald Juan said.

MBLT-1 is stationed in Zamboanga City as part of the Joint Task Group-Zamboanga.

Zamboanga City Mayor Bheng Climaco-Salazar, who is also a qualified counselor and Dr. Lolina N. Bajin, of Camp Navarro General Hospital in Western Mindanao Command joined the MBLT-1 in the stress debriefing.

The PSP, or stress debriefing, was conducted to help the SAF troopers talk about their experience and reduce the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Based on the feedback of their battalion commander, the SAF troopers felt a sense of relief after the activity. We are very fortunate that our team was prepared and are capable to conduct the stress debriefing,” Juan said.

Being the only qualified, authorized, and capable unit of the Marine Corps in the area, the MBLT-1 facilitated the stress debriefing for the SAF troopers under the 55th SAC.

“We conducted the psycho-social processing to the members of the 55th SAC who are not directly involved but have lost their close friends and buddies in the operation in Mamasapano,” Juan said.

He added that the effect of the encounter was obvious among the SAF personnel.

“The moment they entered the discussion group, we could already feel the sadness,” he said.

Juan described that during the debriefing process, the SAF troopers were at first hesitant, but after a while they were able to let go of their emotions and unload their grief.

“According to their battalion commander, the SAF commandos felt relieved after the debriefing. We were deeply appreciated not only by the participants but also their commander,” the MBLT-1 commander stressed.

The Marine unit went through a four-day training and workshop on mental health and psychosocial support capacities (MHPSC) in Combat Operations under Dr. Bajin.

“Our training concluded two weeks ago and we received our qualification. From there we started facilitating psycho-social processing with soldiers who are going through re-enlistment,” Juan said.

The MHPSC is required to be qualified in facilitating stress debriefing activities.

With the training, the MBLT-1 was equipped with the skills and capability to facilitate individual and group discussions with affected persons.

The Marines were taught how to handle and talk affected individuals through their trauma, at the same time they were taught how to diffuse the stress that could be passed on to them after the debriefing.

After the successful debriefing of the SAF commandos, the MBLT-1 is looking forward to facilitating another PSP session, this time for the families of the Fallen-44 in Zamboanga City.

“We are just waiting for orders and also for a mutually applicable time to conduct the debriefing,” Juan said.

Juan assumed command of MBLT-1 last January 2014.

The unit conducts focused military operations in Basilan and Sulu.

He said that his unit is not new to intense encounters given their area of responsibility.

“We conduct security operations in Sulu and have also taken part as support unit to major operations against high-value targets in Western Mindanao,” Juan said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=732733