There have been 56 suicides in the Air Force community so far this year. Although that number has dropped since this time last year, “it is still a major area of concern for our force,” Lt. Gen. Darrell Jones, deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel, told the House Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel last week. Unlike with some of the other services, there doesn’t seem to be a correlation between Air Force suicides and deployments. “In fact, 68 percent of everyone in the Air Force who’s committed suicide [has] never deployed,” said Jones. Of those who have taken their own lives, “only 10 percent . . . were deployed in the last six months,” he noted. Security forces, aircraft maintenance, and intelligence career fields have a higher suicide rate, so officials are reaching out to supervisors in those fields to help them recognize the signs that an airman is in despair and teach the supervisors what to do to help. “This is a leadership issue, not a medical issue, not a personnel issue,” said Jones. (Jones written testimony) (See also Heartfelt Intervention from the Daily Report archives and AFPS report by Karen Parrish.)
Planning an Air Show Is Hard. At Andrews, It’s Even Harder
Sept. 17, 2025
Joint Base Andrews opened its flightline this month to thousands of civilians, exposing a normally restricted airbase that regularly hosts the president and foreign dignitaries to a curious public eager to see current and historic military aircraft up close and in action.
