Training · Read before your first shift

Watch Stander Handbook

About forty minutes of reading, self-paced. You are done when you have read all of it, signed the agreement on the last page, and stood one shadow shift with a watch captain.

Apply to stand watch Jump to the escalation protocol

Somebody is always on watch

Foxhole Forum is a free, anonymous peer support community for veterans. Members sign up with a handle instead of a name. There is no intake, no waitlist, and no cost. We are not VA-affiliated and we are not clinical care.

A watch stander is the person who is awake and reading when someone posts. That is the entire job. You are not here to fix anyone, diagnose anyone, or carry anyone. You are here so that nobody posts into an empty room at three in the morning.

The post is

Reading the forum for your shift window
Answering new and unanswered posts
Sitting with people having a bad night
Naming risk out loud and escalating early
Pointing to vetted resources when asked
Logging your shift before you go off watch

The post is not

Counseling, therapy, or case management
Medical, legal, or VA claims advice
A crisis hotline, those go to 988
A place to recruit, sell, or evangelize
Staying on past your shift because you feel responsible

The commitment

One four-to-eight hour watch per week, claimed in advance on the watch bill. Morning is 0600 to 1400, swing is 1400 to 2200, graveyard is 2200 to 0600, all in your local time. If you cannot make a shift, post it in the watch channel at least twelve hours out so a captain can backfill it.

Sit with it, don't solve it

Most people who post are not looking for an answer. They are checking whether anyone is there. The fastest way to lose someone is to open with advice.

1
Answer fast, even if it is short
Within fifteen minutes if you can. “I’m here, I’m reading” beats a perfect reply an hour later.
2
Reflect before you respond
Say back what you actually heard, in your own words. “Sounds like the claim denial hit harder than the money.”
3
Ask one open question
One, not five. “What’s tonight like?” Interrogation shuts people down.
4
Share your own only if it serves them
A sentence of lived experience builds trust. A war story takes the thread away from them. If you are talking more than they are, stop.
5
Ask the direct question when the signs are there
“Are you thinking about killing yourself?” Plainly, no euphemism. Asking does not put the idea in anyone’s head. Not asking leaves you guessing.
6
Escalate early and say so
“I’m bringing in our watch captain, I’m not going anywhere.” Escalating in the open is not a betrayal. Hiding it is.

Say

“That makes sense to me.”
“I don’t know, but I’ll sit here with you.”
“You don’t have to explain it well.”
“Do you want ideas, or do you want company?”
“I’m still here.”

Don't say

“At least you’re not…”
“You should get off that medication.”
“I promise it gets better.”
“Just call the VA.”
“Keep this between us.”

Anonymity, and when it bends

Members are anonymous by default and may choose to share a state, a phone number, or a location. You never ask for identifying information for any reason other than getting help to someone in immediate danger. You never store it, screenshot it, or repeat it outside the incident log. Never promise a member that you will keep a disclosure of suicide, or of harm to someone else, between the two of you. If someone asks you to promise before they tell you, say so plainly: “I can’t promise that, and I’m not going anywhere.”

When you do not know the answer

Say you do not know. Then send them to the resource hub, or to a captain, or to 988. Guessing at a claims deadline, a medication interaction, or an eligibility rule does more damage than silence. You are trusted here because you are honest, not because you are informed.

Four levels, no improvising

Print this section and keep it within reach on every watch. On shift, the escalation hub is the tooling around it: live alerts, paging, the shift log, and debriefs.

Level 1

Hold the post

Venting, loneliness, a bad night, frustration with the VA.

Answer it within fifteen minutes. Reflect, one open question, sit with it. Log it.

Page: Nobody. This is yours.

Level 2

Get a second

Hopelessness, heavy using, a relapse in progress.

Ask the direct question, plainly. Stay in the thread.

Page: A second watch stander.

Level 3

Captain now

Suicide, self-harm, a plan, a means, a timeline.

Give 988, press 1. Stay in the thread. Say out loud that you are bringing in the captain.

Page: The watch captain.

Level 4

Emergency

An attempt in progress.

Keep 988 in front of them. 911 in their jurisdiction if a location is known.

Page: The founders. Captain makes the page.

What you use on shift

The moderator queue. New posts, flagged posts, and anything unanswered for more than thirty minutes.
The watch channel. Private group chat for standers on shift. Ping a second and page a captain here. Say the level out loud: “Level 3.”
The shift log. One line per shift, plus an entry for every Level 2 and above. Handles only, never names.
The resource hub. Vetted crisis lines, peer numbers, state-filtered care. Link it, do not improvise a referral.

988, press 1 Text 838255

The rules you enforce

Anonymity is the floor. No real names, unit identifiers, addresses, or photos that identify a member. Do not out anyone, including yourself in a way that pressures others to reciprocate.
No method detail. Discussion of suicide and self-harm is allowed and welcome. Specific methods, means, or instructions are removed on sight.
No medical, legal, or claims advice. Share experience, not instructions. “Here’s what happened with my claim” is fine. “Stop taking that” is not.
No recruiting, selling, or preaching. No MLMs, no fundraising, no proselytizing, no campaigning. Faith and politics can be part of someone’s story, not a pitch.
No gatekeeping. Nobody’s service, era, MOS, discharge status, or trauma gets ranked here. Family members and caregivers are welcome in the rooms marked for them.
Nothing leaves the room. No screenshots, no reposting, no sharing threads off-platform beyond what an incident log requires.

Moderation ladder

Redirect

In-thread, in public, without shaming.

Remove

Take it down, message them why.

Lock

Freeze a thread that has turned. Captain reviews.

Suspend

Captains and founders only. Never on your own.

Taking care of the person standing watch

This work touches your own history. Step off a thread that is pulling you under and hand it to your captain, no explanation required. Do not stand watch while using or in your own crisis. Take the debrief after any Level 3 or 4. If you need to come off the bill for a while, say so. Nobody loses standing here for taking a knee.

Before anyone stands a shift

Every step is completed and dated by a founder or watch captain. Nobody goes on the bill with an open box.

01
Application received
Name, contact, branch, era, why they want the post.
02
Service verified
DD-214, VA ID, or VIC shown to a founder. Never stored.
03
Thirty-minute call with Chris
Why this post, and where their own hard nights are.
04
Two references contacted
A peer-support lead, sponsor, or chaplain who has seen them with people.
05
Recovery stability confirmed, if applicable
Self-attested, ninety days minimum.
06
Handbook read and agreement signed
Including the confidentiality and no-advice clauses.
07
Escalation protocol printed and on hand
Ask them to read Level 3 back in their own words.
08
One shadow shift with a watch captain
They read, the captain answers, they debrief together after.
09
Accounts and access issued
Moderator role, watch channel, shift log, watch bill.
10
First solo shift assigned, captain on call
Never a graveyard shift first.

If a partner organization referred this person, record which one. Their affiliation stays visible on their profile.

You hold the shift, not just the thread

A watch captain is an experienced stander assigned to every shift. Captains have stood at least twenty shifts, handled a Level 3 with a captain over their shoulder, and been appointed by Chris.

Open the shift

Post in the watch channel that you are on and who is with you. Read the previous handoff first.

Stay reachable

Notifications on and loud. A stander should reach you in under two minutes. Name a relief before stepping away.

Take the thread on Level 3

Join the thread, do not replace the stander silently. Ask directly. Keep 988 in front of them. Decide whether this is a Level 4.

Debrief before anyone logs off

Ten minutes on a call, same night, using Form 02. What happened, what they did, what they are carrying, what they need.

Close the shift

Complete the log, write the handoff for the incoming captain, flag any thread that needs eyes in the morning.

Watch your people

If a stander is short, absent, or too deep in a thread, pull them off it. Tell a founder if someone needs to come off the bill.

Page a founder when

Any Level 4.
Any threat toward another person.
Any member you are considering suspending.
Any watch stander who needs to come off the bill.
Anything involving a partner organization's name.
Anything you are not sure about at 0300. That is what founders are for.

Watch stander agreement

Sign before your first solo shift, on a printed copy, with a founder or captain. Partner organization noted if any.

I understand that Foxhole Forum is peer support and not clinical care, and that I am not acting as a counselor, clinician, or medical or legal advisor.
I will follow the escalation protocol as written, and I will not handle a Level 3 or Level 4 alone.
I will keep everything I read on the platform confidential, with the exception of disclosures of suicide, self-harm, or harm to another person, which I will escalate.
I will not collect, store, or share identifying information about a member, and I will not screenshot or repost anything from the platform.
I will not stand watch while impaired or in the middle of my own crisis, and I will tell a watch captain when I need to step back.
I understand that I can leave this post at any time, for any reason, without explanation.

Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255.

Apply to stand watch contact@foxholewatch.com

Watch Stander Handbook · V1 · Review quarterly · foxholevets.com