Commander Indo-Pacific Endeavour, Brigadier Jennifer Harris, shared a very personal seminar on mental health and resilience with engineers from the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) about to deploy on a United Nations mission to Africa.
Brigadier Harris presented her seminar at a two-day mental health pre-deployment training package delivered by Australian Defence Force psychologists in Hanoi in May.
About 200 personnel from the VPA's Engineering Company Rotation 4 attended Vietnam's Department of Peacekeeping Operations in Hanoi ahead of their mission to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei in September.
VPA senior leaders shared their deployment experiences and challenges, and then Brigadier Harris shared some lessons from her life and deployments overseas.
She received a warm round of applause when the translator shared that, like them, she too was a combat engineer and war veteran and believed investing in mental resilience required building strong foundations.
"My mum was my first role model of how I need to be strong and look after my mental health and resilience," Brigadier Harris said.
"My dad died two weeks before I was born, so my mum had to be resilient for her little girl.
"My mum relied on her sisters, their family, her parents but also friends in those early years.
"So one of the most important things you can do is make sure you look after each other on deployment and identify a buddy to talk to.
"Networks is my first tool that I always ensure is reinforced. My second tool is being physically fit - sleeping well, good nutrition and managing tempo."
Brigadier Harris, who played rugby union for Australia, said mental fitness was as important as physical fitness.
"When I don't sleep I get cranky, and when I don't sleep I find it harder to cope with stress. So making sure I do everything to look after myself physically is key to being mentally agile and resilient," she said.
"And the same way we do physical exercises, I now do mental exercises to ensure I am in good health. I found yoga and meditation critical to maintaining focus."
'I had to create a network of support to help me do my role. I found English speakers among the people at the base who I could rely on.'
Brigadier Harris, who was the force insertion Australian engineer into Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, said one of the toughest mental challenges for her, far more than any physical challenge, was feeling isolated and alone.
"I was working with the Dutch. I didn't have an Australian team and I couldn't speak the language of the team I was working with," she said.
"I had to create a network of support to help me do my role. I found English speakers among the people at the base who I could rely on."
The lesson, she said, was "make sure no one feels alone".
Brigadier Harris said she deployed to Afghanistan again six years later, with her husband, which highlighted the importance of family to mental resilience.
"Have you thought about how your family will be supported while you're away? As military professionals, we are often the strong rock in many of our networks," she said.
"So when you're away, who is that rock in your families' system?
"Sometimes, because you're not there, your family has to create systems and processes to thrive without you. One of the big things to remember post deployment is to take time and be flexible to fit back in. So be patient."
Brigadier Harris said before leaving Afghanistan, she remembered experiencing a sense of absolute personal responsibility - for everyone and everything.
She questioned whether the accommodation she was building for her colleagues was safe enough and strong enough to resist indirect fire and explosives. She questioned whether the infrastructure, the roads, schools and bridges they were building with the Afghan people were good enough.
"I had overwhelming feelings of, 'Have we done enough?' And that personal internal battle can be overwhelming," she said.
"One way that helped me deal with that is I wrote a list. A long list. And to provide focus, I crossed out what I could not control. Then I focused on what I could control, and could give a proper handover to those coming behind me."
Brigadier Harris advised the peacekeepers not to underestimate their personal investment in the mission but to recognise as a team that there were limits to what could be achieved.
'Make sure your network is strong, make sure all your tools are in the tool box, treat your mental muscles like your physical muscles. And be tough enough to talk about your feelings.'
And to the commanders in the room, Brigadier Harris talked about the loneliness of being a commander; not pushing the stress down to their team and ensuring they had trusted confidantes to talk to.
"As commanders, you must monitor the pulse of the team and use your faith leaders, doctors and psychologists to help you monitor and engage your team with social and morale-boosting events when the challenges arise," she said.
"One of the best ways to slow the pulse down is to have frank conversations about it.
"It allows people to talk about their frustrations, how they're feeling, so you can move past it.
"And, if something happens, and someone is hurt or, worse case, there is a death close to you, you have already opened up strong communication channels."
Brigadier Harris said one of the most valuable tools was the ability to talk about feelings.
"You're all tough military people like me. But the toughest people can talk about their feelings in a way that enables them to continue on. Because if we don't, they bottle up and the pulse keeps rising," she said.
"So make sure your network is strong, make sure all your tools are in the tool box, treat your mental muscles like your physical muscles. And be tough enough to talk about your feelings."
