Editor's note: This story is part of an eight-day series on domestic violence in Central Louisiana.

Kendra Brown had been dating her ex-boyfriend, John, for two weeks when he showed signs of abusive behavior, slamming a door in her face.

“The first time, he didn’t actually hit me. I didn’t know what domestic abuse was at the time, so I wasn’t aware that his actions could get worse,” Brown said. “...I learned early off that I shouldn’t do anything unless he said I could.”

For the next six years, Brown found herself “living in a nightmare.” She wasn’t allowed to speak to her family, leave the house by herself, have a job or cellphone or cut her hair.

“He was very controlling. He was physically abusive, but there was also a lot of mental and emotional abuse as well,” she said. “...Whenever I tried to get help, they (law enforcement officials) basically told me that my abuse wasn’t bad enough.”

Eventually, Brown said she begged God to let her die.

“He grabbed me by the neck and pinned me against the wall,” Brown said, recalling one particular instance of abuse. “ …The kids were there, screaming at him, but I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t breathe. My head started to get fuzzy and I couldn’t see anything but black.”

Brown was pregnant at the time.

“I knew if I died that night, my baby would die too,” she said. “I think that’s why I held on.”

Eventually, Brown was able to get out of the abusive situation, and she married Ryan, a friend from high school. Ryan is an active-duty soldier at Fort Polk.

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Because Brown is a domestic abuse survivor, she and her husband are offered counseling services through Fort Polk's Family Advocacy program.

To combat domestic violence, the Department of Defense follows guidelines for each service to deal with the issue through family advocacy programs, the command structure and the military police.

“In the military, everything is different,” said Kristina England, the Family Advocacy program manager at Fort Polk. “In a civilian setting, for instance, your boss would not know what goes on in your home unless you choose to tell them. In the Army, getting the chain-of-command involved in domestic disputes is part of how we deal with it.”

The purpose of the Army’s mandatory-reporting stance, England says, is to “try to always prevent domestic disputes and educate the community on what domestic violence is, and how to report it to the proper authorities.”

If a soldier is accused of abusing a spouse or child, the soldier’s unit command team is notified and is required to investigate the matter, England said. The soldier must also begin on-post counseling and family members can, too.

“It’s not a perfect system by any means,” England said. “If soldiers live off post, that changes what we can do to help, because once local law enforcement is involved, then it’s out of our hands. It can get complicated at times, but we are proactive, and we are taking a step in the right direction.”

According to a study by Caliber Associates for the Department of Defense, the Army has the highest rate of domestic violence incidents, followed by the Marines, Navy and Air Force.

Fort Polk, on average, deals with about 300 cases each year, and England attributes the high numbers to the “head-on approach” the Army takes to control and prevent the issue.

“I don’t think that military families or service members are more prone to domestic violence,” England said. “Percentage-wise, the numbers are higher because soldiers are mandated to report incidents if they suspect a dangerous situation in the home. We have a program to catch it, so the numbers reflect that.”

Fort Polk did see higher numbers of abuse cases between 2009 and 2012. England said that “people assume PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is to blame,” but there can be a variety of factors.

“Especially with lower enlisted families, we see a lot of times where an argument is over money or debts … and soldiers aren’t always the offenders,” she said. “More often, we are seeing cases where the spouse, not the military member, is the abusive one. With lower enlisted families — younger soldiers — it’s often a one-income household. That can cause a lot of stress.”

England said domestic violence affects every rank in the military, “from the lowest private to a colonel or general.” She said the number of male and female victims “are roughly the same,” though males are less likely to report abuse.

At Fort Polk, Family Advocacy hosts awareness and prevention events throughout the year.

“We offer a date night for couples where we provide childcare while the couple spends quality time together,” England said. “We also speak to units about the dangers of domestic abuse and remind them of the steps they can take to report it.”

Fort Polk also teams up with Vernon and Beauregard Parish officials each October to host a community-wide 5K event honoring domestic violence victims throughout the state.

At this year’s event earlier in the month, Fort Polk Col. Michael Simmering and mayors and representatives from Leesville, Deridder, New Llano, Rosepine, Anacoco and Hornbeck signed a memorandum and promised to continue fighting domestic violence.

“This is a war we are fighting on the home front,” England said. “And in order to win this battle, we have to fight it together. We owe it to our soldiers and their families to make sure that they are safe.”

Brown is still dealing with the impact of her abusive relationship with John. Her children remember some of the things they witnessed, "and they still have nightmares. They still can't sleep sometimes."

Since marrying Ryan, she says that she feels safe.

“He (Ryan) gives me lots of hugs. That's how we're dealing with it. ... For the first time in a long time, I can breathe,” she said. “It’s a sense of relief that we are so far away and that we are here, where people care.”

Brown said John has only served four hours in jail, despite numerous 911 calls she made asking for help. She said a five-year protective order against him ended recently.

“We’re away, we’re safe, we’re happy now, but we still deal with it a lot,” she said. “I know John will try to come down here one day. … I’m scared of that day when he comes here to look for me, but I’m not the same person I was back then.”

How to report domestic violence:

Domestic violence can be reported by calling the JRTC & Fort Polk 24-hour hotline at 337-531-HOPE (4673). The hotline is for abuse or neglect cases involving active duty, retired, Reserve or National Guard service members.

Other domestic violence cases can be reported by calling the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence hotline at 1-888-411-1333 or the national hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

Child abuse and neglect can be reported to the state Department of Child and Family Services at 1-855-4LA-KIDS (1-855-452-5437).