‘#GotMySix’ Campaign Works to Build Support, Gratitude

By Ian Neligh

Sometimes remembering who has your back can make all the difference in the world.

From Arizona to Texas and from Pennsylvania to New York, the military community embraced the #GotMySix campaign during the month of September as part of Suicide Prevention Month. It was hosted by Human Performance Resources by CHAMP (HPRC), the total force fitness educational arm of the Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP). CHAMP is housed at the Uniformed Services University and is one of the Defense Centers of Excellence. 

The campaign works to encourage people, mainly military service members and their communities, to practice gratitude for those who support them and reflect on the family, friends, colleagues, pets, or even places that help to build their social support network.  It also encourages them to write about it on a blank card and pin it on a #GotMySix bulletin board, then take a picture and post it on social media.

“The #GotMySix campaign is a way to highlight the folks who have our backs in everyday life,” says campaign lead and CHAMP’s Education and Production administrator Aiste Degesys, a Henry M. Jackson Foundation employee. Degesys adds that recognition was provided via social media or through physical boards set up specifically for that purpose. “We try to provide an opportunity for individuals to give a gratitude shout-out, anonymously or by name.”

The campaign originally started in 2016 solely as a social media campaign.  Degesys says the campaign has grown over the years, in participation and format. In 2018, CHAMP distributed 5 physical campaign kits. Last month alone, nearly 30 #GotMySix kits, which included everything needed to set up a recognition board for displays of gratitude, were requested by Army units, leaders, chaplains, and health behaviorists located at military installations across the U.S.

The military community took part in the annual #GotMySix campaign during the month of September as part of Suicide Prevention Month. The campaign
encourages people to practice gratitude for those that support them. (Photo courtesy of Chris Niewinksi)

According to Degesys, CHAMP has seen an overwhelmingly positive response to the campaign. She adds September’s uptick in participation could be attributed to the pandemic, and people feeling a little more vulnerable than usual. As such, Degesys says new participants were eager to share their gratitude for those who make a positive impact in their lives.

The board at USU was covered with sheets of paper with messages such as “Thankful for Marcus,” “Thankful for my family…,” and “Thankful for my cohort.”

The university’s facility dog Shetland even got in on the messages of gratitude with one reading, “Thankful for my student handlers!” followed by a paw print.

Degesys says the campaign calls importance to how strong relationships and social support play into mental wellness, holistic wellbeing, and prevention guidance. “At the heart of the campaign is a performance and strengths-based approach to suicide prevention, using social support and gratitude as positive protective factors against suicide and practices to improve mental wellness.” Degesys says.

One member of the National Guard writing about the #GotMySix Campaign says, “I think this campaign was important because there is still an ongoing stigma with mental health and how that impacts total force fitness. In bringing this campaign to life, service members, civilians, contractors, and the like can see that they are not alone: there is a network and support available…”

Every year the USU/CHAMP awareness campaign continues to grow in popularity within the military community, bringing awareness to the importance of social support in mental health. To learn more about the #GotMySix campaign or to request a kit, visit https://www.hprc-online.org/resources-partners/gotmysix.

The annual #GotMySix campaign started in 2016 by the Uniformed Services University's Consortium for Health and Military Performance. Last month, nearly
30 #GotMySix kits were sent out and included everything needed to set up a recognition board for displays of gratitude. (Courtesy of CHAMP)