#IAMIMSC: Staff Sgt. Kalissa O’Banion
Duty title and unit: Mental Health Technician, Air Force Security Forces Center Detachment 1, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Primary duty responsibilities: As a mental health technician, I provide inmates with case management services, administer psychological testing and facilitate group therapy sessions. As the acting Air Force liaison - a position held by a master sergeant – for the past several months, I also facilitated arrivals and transfers of inmates, and processed inmates request throughout AFSFC.
What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is aiding in rehabilitating our inmates so they can becoming functioning members of society post release.
Why are you and your job important to the Air Force and AFMC?
My job is very important because I assist inmates through the rehabilitation process so they are able be a contributing member of society. This process is accomplished by addressing mental health concerns, identifying reasons for their behavior or mindset issues that may lead to re-engaging with criminal behaviors and mitigating potential triggers.
What’s a recent project that gave you a great sense of accomplishment?
I worked on a project with our provider that helped to train our correctional officers in intensive interpersonal skills for improved communication, responsiveness and understanding. This training resulted in minimizing adverse reactions from inmates and increased safety for our inmate population and staff.
Which AFIMSC priority do you most identify with – or see yourself and your job fitting into – and why?
The priority that I find myself identifying with most is organizational excellence. I say that because my job supports some of the main objectives within the National Defense Strategy. Correctional mental health helps to safe guard our military by providing reformative care to ensure the proper personnel is mobilized to meet our military objectives or the civilian sector.