A1C Gerald J. “B.J.” Lange Jr. works ambulance services at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, in May 2016. He’s since been placed on the Permanent Disability Retired List. B.J. Lange/Courtesy
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
Make ’Em Laugh: Helping Vets Through Improv
When a cancer diagnosis forced former Air Force Reserve medic Gerald J. “B.J.” Lange Jr. onto the Temporary Disability Retired List in 2016, comedy and improv helped pull him through. Now he’s using those same skills to help veterans overcome their disabilities.
“My love for acting has always been my biggest passion,” Lange said in a recent interview with Air Force Magazine. “But I constantly kept looking over my shoulder, wishing that I would have joined the military.” He was 35 by the time he raised his right hand.
Lange’s civilian acting career took him to The Second City—the legendary improv theatre and school with stages in Chicago, Hollywood, and Toronto. This is the same outfit that developed comedians Gilda Radner and Stephen Colbert, and after graduating from the Hollywood Conservatory, Lange wanted to teach. Eventually, he connected teaching and the military by developing a Hollywood version of Second City’s Chicago-based Improv for Veterans program.
Lange created a veterans-specific program in which they have a distinct educational process, their own sketch teams, and more. The connection between improv and the military is simple, he says. “We always say the key to air power is flexibility. Well, that is ingrained in us as improvisers, too.” Improv builds life skills. “Listening, problem-solving, thinking outside the box, connecting with one another,” Lange said. “Building that confidence is so important.”
In the field, this is called applied improvisation, according to the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University. “You know, I’m not teaching them how to necessarily get the laughs,” he said. “I’m teaching them how to connect with one another and be able to do team building and trust exercises.”
Lange maintains his military connections as an Air Force Wounded Warrior Program ambassador; a volunteer public affairs officer with Civil Air Patrol; and as a member of the Artist Council of the Armed Services Arts Partnership.
His mission is the same, whether as a medic or a volunteer, he said: “Take care of people.”
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
The Air Force is investigating a potential exposure of service members’ personal data through Microsoft SharePoint, according to a spokesperson and an email sent to Airmen.
The Space Force introduced its own physical fitness program, the first one ever developed just for Guardians. The new twice-annual assessment is similar to the Air Force’s new test and also extends the Space Force's study using wearable fitness trackers.
Air Force sergeants will soon have a more direct path to become training instructors, recruiters, and first sergeants in an effort to give Airmen more control over their careers, the service announced Sept. 30.
Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org Air & Space Forces Magazine Editor-in-Chief Tobias Naegele visited Veterans Healthcare...
After months of speculation, the Air Force confirmed on Sept. 24 that next year Airmen will begin taking physical fitness assessments every six months, including a two-mile run test every year.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna rolled out a framework for molding Guardians to the rank of master sergeant, which he considers the most consequential in the service.
The Air Force wants to promote working out, healthy eating habits, and a holistic approach to well-being for both Airmen and Guardians as part of a new “Culture of Fitness” initiative announced Sept. 18.
Unit commanders are being told to separate service members who can’t shave their cheeks and chin for medical reasons for more than a year, according to new guidance from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
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