Sept. 9, 2010 CAIB, IDS improve Air Force quality of life Two important groups continually work to improve the Air Force quality of life. They are the Community Action Information Boards and Integrated Delivery Systems, which operate at Air Force, major command and installation levels.The CAIB focuses on identifying and resolving issues impacting Air Force
Sept. 3, 2010 Direct communication between Airmen key to suicide prevention More than a decade in the making, the culture of the "wingman" approach to suicide prevention is still evolving as risk factors and causes of suicide are becoming more widely understood. The wingman concept should be very familiar to most Airmen. Suicide prevention training has been incorporated
Aug. 26, 2010 Mental health clinic works to help Airmen, families Members of the 673rd Medical Group Mental Health Flight here have been working hard to meet the mental healthcare needs of military members and their families.The military life can be a stressful one, said Maj. Alexsa Billups, a member of the 673rd MDG. "It's up to the individual people to come to
Aug. 26, 2010 Ask the question When Tech. Sgt. David Bales got the call that an Airman he supervised was drunk and talking about "ending it all," he immediately drove to the dormitory. He'd been around too many successful and attempted suicides to just attribute "ending it all" to a case of drunken rambling. As an intelligence
June 23, 2010 Air Force takes steps against suicides The Air Force vice chief of staff testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee June 22 to address steps the service is taking to stem the rising suicide numbers. Gen. Carrol H. "Howie" Chandler, in testimony alongside the other service vice chiefs and the assistant commandant of the Marine
June 23, 2010 Services, VA use technology for stress, resilience outreach Officials from the military services and the Veterans Health Administration of the Veterans Affairs Department increasingly use digital technology to reach out to identify and treat servicemembers with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. The second-ranking officers of each
June 23, 2010 Services work to learn more about brain ailments, suicides Post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and suicides among servicemembers are interrelated problems requiring holistic prevention methods and more scientific study, military leaders told a Senate panel June 22. "The reality is, the study of the brain is an emerging science, and there still is
June 23, 2010 Air Force officials discuss mental health options, confidentiality Airmen in need of psychological intervention or counseling have myriad options available through a number of Air Force programs, officials said here June 16.Although psychological screening occurs throughout an Airman's career by way of annual preventive health assessments and post-deployment
June 15, 2010 Survivor shares story to combat troop suicides Kim Ruocco hung up the phone with her husband, relieved he had finally agreed to seek help for his increasingly severe bouts of depression.Still, she had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. She decided to catch a red-eye flight from Massachusetts to California, where her husband's reserve
May 25, 2010 Chaplains discuss suicide prevention Air Combat Command chaplains gathered April 27 through 29 to discuss the problem of suicide during a Comprehensive Airman Fitness conference in Newport News, Va. During the conference, Dr. Thomas Joiner, the event's keynote speaker, shared his concern about the pandemic of suicide. "Worldwide, over
May 25, 2010 Chaplains discuss suicide prevention Air Combat Command chaplains gathered April 27 through 29 to discuss the problem of suicide during a Comprehensive Airman Fitness conference in Newport News, Va. During the conference, Dr. Thomas Joiner, the event's keynote speaker, shared his concern about the pandemic of suicide. "Worldwide, over
May 4, 2010 Wingman Stand Down 2010 in May focuses on Airmen safety, well-being For a half day in May, Airmen will learn strategies to prevent suicides and private motor vehicle accidents as part of Wingman Stand Down 2010. The exact date for the stand down will be left to individual units to determine.In a jointly signed letter, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz
March 29, 2010 Air Force Medical Service - Trusted Care Anywhere NOTE: This article was published in U.S. Medicine's "This Year in Federal Medicine: Outlook 2010." It appears here with the publisher's permission."Trusted Care Anywhere" is the Air Force Medical Service's vision for 2010 and beyond. In every domain of Air, Space and Cyberspace, our medics
March 1, 2010 Air Force officials remain vigilant in PTSD treatment With a commitment to taking care of Airmen and their families, Air Force officials said they will maintain a focus on the prevention, mitigation and treatment of deployment-related post-traumatic stress disorder.Air Force officials use a three-pronged approach to promote psychological health and
Jan. 15, 2010 Mullen voices concern with military suicide rate Suicide is a growing problem in the military community, and its leaders must be committed to reversing that trend, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here Jan. 13.In an address to an audience of more than 1,000 military and other government agency health-care workers and officials
Sept. 14, 2009 Tinker man uses painful past to educate others about suicide When 27-year-old Gordon Joel "Joey" Dunham died, his father wanted to die, too. "I've had every emotion possible," said Rocky Dunham, a tools and parts attendant with the 552nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron. "I had no idea what suicide was about until it touched me when my son died last year.
Aug. 20, 2009 Recognize the warning signs Those of us who serve or work for the miltiary receive training on suicide prevention, but how many of us really apply what we learn? Are we watching for warning signs? Do we know who is at risk and how we can help them? Do we know what we can do to help? I don't know about you, but I always thought
July 31, 2009 Uncertainty about military suicides frustrates services The most frustrating part about suicide prevention is the uncertainty about what causes troops to take their lives, top military leaders said here July 29. This near-unanimous chorus was sounded on Capitol Hill when the second-ranking military officers of each service testified about military mental
June 29, 2009 Important dates in the history of the AF Medical Service July 1949 and early 1950 -- Newly authorized Air Force medics assume all responsibility for patient treatment on Air Force bases. On Sept. 7, 1949, two months after the creation of the Air Force Medical Service, Louis Johnson, Secretary of Defense, directed that aeromedical evacuation (AE) be the
June 12, 2009 Suicide prevention: A leadership challenge for all Every time a life is lost in Pacific Air Forces I am alerted. All are tragic in different ways, but among the most troubling is when it involves a suicide. During the course of my 35 years on active duty, I've learned that we cannot prevent every suicide attempt. More importantly, I've learned that