Photo By Aimee Malone | Col. Cynthia Hopkins, site director at Regional Training Site-Medical, conducts a...... read more read more
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As part of predeployment training, Soldiers with the 349th Combat Support Hospital of Bell, Calif., attended a professional development class conducted April 5 by Col. Cynthia Hopkins, site director of Regional Training Site-Medical at Fort McCoy, Wis.
The class covered a variety of topics, including leadership, staying professional, and the importance of trust in a deployed environment.
“In my experience, it takes three things to really be successful: … character, confidence, and commitment,” Hopkins said.
But, she said, a quote from a German military strategist has always stuck with her: “If you have to choose between character and confidence, always choose character because in the heat of battle, the person with strong character will get you through.”
She said that following a simple rule can help people stop from creating problems for themselves in every area of professional life.
“I have a saying: think, filter, speak,” Hopkins said. It’s important to remember that anything sent via email, text message, or other forms of communication is out there forever if the recipient decides to save it. Asking someone else to read a message before sending it can be a career saver, she said, as can taking a break instead of sending an angry response.
It’s important for leaders to understand their subordinates’ jobs to help coach them and set them up for success, she said.
“You need to know how to do their job,” Hopkins said. “It would be really tough to teach someone how to be an operations officer if I hadn’t done it before.”
She also stressed the importance of the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program, especially in a deployed environment. She shared several stories about how sexual harassment and assault have affected herself, Soldiers she’s known, and units she’s worked with throughout her career.
“The reason I share these stories with you is because one of the biggest issues we have in mobilized settings are SHARP-related issues,” Hopkins said. “I’m telling you: If you see something, say something. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female. I work in conjunction with the SHARP coordinator on the installation, and we actually have more incidents against males than females.”
It’s important to not only avoid such behaviors but to stop them when you see them, Hopkins said. It’s also important to take any reports seriously, especially in a place where a victim may have few resources other than his or her chain of command.
“I need to know the sergeant major has my back,” Hopkins said. “I need to know the chief has my back. … We need to look out for each other.”
The 349th Soldiers completed nine days of training on post that included this course.
RTS-Medical is one of three regional training sites available to units in the Army Reserve. It specializes in training service members to set up hospitals from bare ground and keep them running in a deployed or austere environment.
The organization has been a tenant activity and training partner at Fort McCoy since 1991.
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2019 15:47 |
| Story ID: | 319511 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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