MO Capstone - Pena
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Feb 20, 2024
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Mortuary Officer Resiliency Reflection Assignment
By Simon Peña
As a preamble to this assignment, I have just started working with one of my Mortuary Technicians about a months ago, and my second Technician just PCSed in two weeks ago. So my familiarity with the ins and outs of my team is still growing. That being said, I know what kind of people my Technicians are – they are hardworking, humble, service-oriented leaders. As such, I will be writing this assignment around the understanding that they are reliable and will knock out everything they need
to do, even to their own detriment.
Question 1: Provide examples of at least 2 CAF pillars that may be affected, or that you may “draw upon” for support during a mortuary case.
From what I have learned over the past week, Mortuary Cases will pull upon all aspects of CAF. Each of the pillars plays into and affects each other, so I do not think it is prudent to ignore even one of them. As such, I’ll be focusing on all of them from the two different lenses – two pillars that will be drawn upon for support, and two that will be challenged.
In terms of the Social Pillar, the members of our Readiness Flight have strong trust in and bonds with each other, which allows them to freely give and take in terms of effort and support. If one member needs to take a knee, the others step up – and if questions or concerns arise, we work together
to investigate and determine the proper way forward. This ties in with the Spiritual Pillar – our core values and standards amplify off our social strength, allowing us to execute our mission objectives with purpose and high levels of performance.
On the other hand, I strongly suspect that the other two of our pillars would take hits during a Mortuary Case. Because of our strong Spiritual Pillar augmented by our Social Pillar, my team would push themselves in ways that would negatively affect the Mental and Physical Pillars. Workouts might get moved, delayed, or even suspended long-term, diet might take a hit, and sleep might become more rare or hard to come by. Likewise, mental resilience would be affected, resulting in higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. As such, should a mortuary case arise, I would be highly focused on the real-time status of my team – with full intent to take quick action should any crack(s) start to show.
Question 2: How can you build up your CAF pillars for both you and your Mort Team to be better prepared/equipped for a mortuary case?
I strongly believe that CAF Pillars cannot be immediately bolstered, meaning they must be deliberately allowed to develop over time. As such, the biggest way that I can augment CAF is by intentionally creating a healthy work environment – combined with work-life balance – ahead of time. This is best accomplished through a multitude of smaller actions, such as encouraging members to take a knee, go to the doctor, work out consistently, leave the office at a healthy time, and utilize mental health services as necessary (Medical Mental Health, Chaplains, Military Family Life Counselor, etc). Things like group lunches, deliberate check-ins, following up on personal developments and wellbeing, and other such intentional actions can also help build CAF foundations and strength over time. And with
all of this, holding myself to the same standards of transparency and openness is also critically important
so my team can look out for me.
Question 3: How can you address immediate CAF concerns for you and your team during a case? How would you go about communicating these concerns both within your team and to your leadership?
From the very first day of my Operations Office tour, I made sure that I developed clear lines of communication with my Squadron Commander, Group Commander, Wing Commander, and all the leadership teams in between. All three Commanders have a strong focus on the wellbeing and resilience of their people, and so while they do emphasize the accomplishment of the mission, they want to make sure their people are doing okay too.
As was suggested in class, a daily wrap up email to my Wing Commander while including my Group and Squadron leadership is something that I plan to do in the event of a mortuary case. When I have concerns, I do not hesitate to express them to my leadership – mission accomplishment suffers if all the honest details and facts of a situation and everything involved therein are not clearly communicated. So any needs, setbacks, adjusted courses of action, breakdowns, and other such circumstances would be detailed as they arise in my reports to and discussions with my leadership.
Regarding my team itself, should a crack show itself or a concern come up, open and honest conversation with and within my team would be paramount. As I mentioned during Question 1, our Social and Spiritual Pillars are strong, and so my team already has the foundations to ensure they are being honest with me and each other, and vice versa. From there, it would be a matter of ensuring that we do not get dragged down to the point where we are too tired or stressed or overworked to look out for each other and communicate in the case of substantial Physical and Mental drain.
Question 4: How can your team care for and support additional parties (SCO, FAR, escort, etc.) involved in a mortuary case?
I think something really important to keep in mind is that these additional parties are not trained in mortuary operations. As such, they are going to be looking to me for training, guidance, and assistance. So the first and possibly most important thing will be to take sufficient time in the beginning to thoroughly explain and walk these additional parties through their duties, and then, from there, make
myself open to them at any time for a multitude of potential reasons.
It will also be important for me to stay in touch with them throughout the mortuary process. Instead of just telling them what to do and then turning them loose, sticking with them, keeping track of
what they have and have not done, and keeping watch for any snags in the process will be imperative to their success. Likewise, ensuring that Squadron, Group, and Wing leadership is aware of their responsibilities as well as the distinctions between these parties will be important, so that unrealistic expectations and standards are not placed on them from on high.
Question 5: What observations do you have for yourself AND your Mortuary Technician from this week’s PADD brief and subsequent exercises?
What stands out most to me is that despite all the rules and regulations and standards and requirements and processes, each and every person involved in a mortuary case on either side of the fence is human. And with humanity comes strengths, weaknesses, uncertainty, messiness, and
capability. During this past week, I have seen people display knowledge, bearing, tact, and insight that was truly inspirational and impressive. On the other hand, I have also seen people freeze up, feel unwanted emotion, forget important details, or succumb to exhaustion.
At the end of the day, the human element means that no two mortuary cases will be alike, and anything can happen at any time. While it is important to be prepared, it is also equally important to be adaptable and dynamic. With myself and my team, I plan on keeping a watchful eye over the whole process, checking in on my members, and being ready to flex as necessary to ensure that the best care possible is delivered to the family of the deceased. And what an honor it is to be able to serve in that kind of role!
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