Humanitarian and Community Relations Training in Ukraine

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

In August of 2022, retired Decorah Police Deputy and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) instructor Tim Felton completed an eight-day trip to the war-torn country of Ukraine, assisting in the conduct of humanitarian and community relations training for local police and military departments. This was the second such trip for him, having previously traveled there in 2019. He shared his captivating and fascinating experiences at our noon Rotary Club meeting in February and will re-join us at Pulpit Rock for the benefit of our After Hours membership.

The 2022 Ukraine training team was comprised of Felton; Greg Young, Chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Head Chaplain and Critical Incident Stress Debriefer for the Germantown Police Department in Germantown, Wisconsin; Ukrainian translator Alex Gerasimov from Atlanta, Georgia; and John Sheahan, an educator for DARE America and an ordained Lutheran pastor in Roland, Iowa. Gerasimov fled Ukraine in 2014 and has been back to the country on humanitarian missions three times since the war started. The team traveled around the country and trained with police recruits, officers, civilians, and soldiers on Critical Stress and Moral Injury Debriefing. Moral Injury Debriefing is geared towards combat veterans who have emotional burdens and guilt, and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing focuses on individuals like first responders who saw people get hurt or killed.

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