Officer shares story of overcoming adversity

By Will King | Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:27 AM CDT
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Lt. Col. Shelly Martin-Hing, author of "Forged by the Fire of Adversity" under the pen name Chelle Lynne, signs a copy of her book for Maj. Eric Bullock, Intermediate Level Education student in class 2010-01, Sept. 30 at the Command and General Staff College Bookstore. Lamp photo by Prudence Siebert.

The public affairs adviser to Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli spoke to Intermediate Level Education students about suicide prevention and overcoming personal adversity at three group sessions Sept. 29-30 at the Lewis and Clark Center.

"It's an us problem, not a them problem," Lt. Col Shelly Martin-Hing said of suicides in the Army.

Martin-Hing said the number of suicides among active-duty Soldiers has doubled since 2001, and with 141 active-duty suicides in 2008 was at or above the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national average for the first time since the Army began keeping suicide statistics.

"Last year was kind of the wake-up call for us, because it was obvious that the trend line wasn't changing, things weren't getting better, the (operations) tempo was remaining the same if not getting worse, the numbers weren't going down," Martin-Hing said.

She said there have been 119 active-duty suicides so far this year, and she called suicide prevention one of the greatest challenges the Army has ever faced. Martin-Hing said the Army suicide prevention task force established by Chiarelli found suicide to be a symptom of a larger problem within the overall health and wellness dynamic of Soldiers.

"We have got to address the health and wellness of the force as a whole, and that includes the families," she said.

Lt. Col. Shelly Martin-Hing, author of "Forged by the Fire of Adversity" under the pen name Chelle Lynne, signs copies of her book Sept. 30 at the Command and General Staff College Bookstore. Lamp photo by Prudence Siebert.

Martin-Hing told students how she overcame her own adversity and thoughts of suicide. Her story focused around the 2003 death of her 3-year-old daughter Alyssa, a special-needs child who spent her first 10 months in the hospital with a condition doctors could not diagnose. Martin-Hing said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder for two years after Alyssa's death.

"PTSD is not just a war thing, it can come from any traumatic event," she said.

Soon after Alyssa's death, Martin-Hing attended the Command and General Staff Officer Course, then was assigned to V Corps in Heidelberg, Germany. Working in a high-stress job, away from family and church support groups in the U.S., and off of her prescribed medication, Martin-Hing said she began to have thoughts of suicide. She said she didn't seek help at first because of the stigma in the military associated with suicide and getting help, and fears for her career.

"I finally got to the point where I knew I had kind of hit my wall," she said. "I came to the realization that if I don't do something here, I'm going to self destruct."

Martin-Hing said one day she finally walked out of work and went to the chaplain's office. She said talking with counselors about her problem and keeping a journal were important steps in her recovery.

"Faith was my bedrock, it was my foundation. It was what I turned to as my method of recovery," she said.

About a year after Alyssa's death Martin-Hing began writing a book about her personal problems, thoughts of suicide and recovery process. Her book "Forged by the Fire of Adversity" was published in July by Xulon Press using her pen name Chelle Lynne. Martin-Hing said writing the book was a form of therapy for her, and she hopes others can learn and benefit from her story.

"Don't isolate yourself. Isolation is probably one of the worst things you can do when you're going through something bad. It's important to reach out, talk to other people, get some other perspectives," she said.

The profits from her book go to an annual scholarship fund named in honor of Alyssa benefiting one graduating senior of Odenton Christian School in Odenton, Md. Martin-Hing said scholarship applicants must write an essay describing how they have touched the life of another person, just as she said Alyssa had touched many people during her few years and without ever speaking a word.

Martin-Hing is currently working at the Pentagon with Chiarelli's suicide prevention task force and supporting Army programs such as Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

"(CSF) is a tool in the kitbag, and it's a very valuable tool, and it's going to move us further down the road from where we were before ... because we're building resilience instead of relying on intervention and treatment," she said.

Martin-Hing also de-scribed a five-year study the Army is doing in coordination with the National Institute of Mental Health examining several physical, mental and background characteristics of Soldiers to determine any chemical or other predisposition toward suicide.

"This study is probably the most comprehensive look at mental health that's ever been done," she said.