
A Resiliency Message From Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
After an alarming increase in suicide rates in the Air Force in 2019, Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein has ordered all wings to stand down for a day and focus on resiliency and suicide prevention. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright explained that the pause will be a “break in the daily grind” so units can focus on airmen and their well-being. It won’t be a “one-day effort to check a box,” Wright said, but will begin a longer-term dialogue between airmen, command teams, agencies dedicated to helping airmen and families, and the rest of the Air Force. He stated that 78 airmen have taken their own lives so far in 2019. That’s 28 more than had suicide at the same point in 2018, and if the trend continues, the Air Force could lose 150 to 160 airmen that way this year. A recent study by the Rand Corp. asserts that Pentagon health care providers are failing to provide service members identified as a high risk for suicide with appropriate care. The study of 39,000 service members found that just 30 percent of those diagnosed with depression and 54 percent of those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress are getting the care they need after being identified as high-risk for suicide.