SAN ANTONIO — A stand-down order is being issued after a surge in suicides in the U.S. Air Force. The San Antonio bases will halt training for one day, on Sept. 3rd.
The order was issued by Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein, who said all wings will take the time to focus on suicide prevention. The Air Force posted a video with Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth Wright August 1st. He shared that 78 airmen took their lives in 2019.
“We lose more airmen to suicide than any other single enemy, even more than combat,” Wright said in the video.
502nd Air Base Wing Maj. Kim Bender said the number is now at 79. She confirmed that an airman committed suicide outside of JBSA on Monday. The next day, a JBSA contractor was found dead.
Tuesday morning, commander of the 502nd Air Base Wing and JBSA Brig. Gen. Laura Lenderman held a Facebook live to address several issues, including the stand-down order.
“This has been a challenging weekend for Joint Base San Antonio. We lost two of our very own, so it's timely. But it's also challenging,” Lenderman said.
Lenderman added that, on Sept. 3, guest speaker Kristen Christy will be speaking to airmen about suicide. Christy’s husband, Air Force Lt. Col. Don Christy, took his own life and, years later, their son did too. JBSA plans to hold discussions to talk about ways to connect with each other.
“We're trying to set up an environment where we can start some meaningful conversations. The reality is that this is a start to those conversations. The solution to resiliency and interestingly enough, probably the solution to kind of our conditions in the dorm, is relationships and partnerships,” said Chief Master Sergeant Chris M. Lantagne, 502d Air Base Wing.
Lantagne went on to say that fighting suicide in the Air Force is about building trust with the airmen.
“On our side of the house, we need to be trustworthy. We need to be accessible, and when we find out there's a problem, we need to get after that problem immediately. It goes back to the very basic: Relationship and connectedness,” Lantagne said.
The 502nd Air Base Wing says it provides various resources for airmen including sexual assault, family advocacy and counseling services.