AF, Army train Serbians on PTSD programs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Hailey Haux
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Two Serbian military members and one Serbian doctor visited the 86th Medical Group and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center March 25 to 27 to become familiarized with mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder programs.

They were given the requirements for establishing and sustaining their own military PTSD program.

"We were able to share experiences between Serbian and American PTSD programs," said Maj. Danilo Joković, Serbian military member. "We gained a lot of valuable knowledge."

During the three days of briefings, the Serbians were taught about personnel roles and responsibilities, training, qualification and certification requirements, military regulations and mental health specialist's roles and responsibilities.

"The Serbians were being briefed on primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of PTSD with the U.S. Air Force mental health system," said Maj. Donald Christman, 86th MDG mental health flight commander.

The morning of March 26 the Serbians were given an in-depth look at the Deployment Transition Center here and what it does for military members from all branches of service.

"Our mission at the DTC is to operate an enduring world-class center providing critical reintegration skills and decompression opportunities for redeployers with high risk to traumatic exposure," said Maj. Lisa Hoyt, 86th Mission Support Group director of operations.

The three-day visit taught the Serbians how Air Force and Army personnel run PTSD programs and how to apply it to their own service members' wellbeing.

The 86th MDG mental health flight and LRMC's warrior transition unit were requested by U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa's surgeon general to train the Serbians because of their experienced personnel.