NEED HELP NOW?
800.273.8255
NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE
Blog
You’re part of the Wingman community now. Share your story here. Find information you can use to save the life of someone for whom you love or care.
ACE Training, Wingman Project Featured in "Robins Rev-Up"
Wingman Project's main mission is to work to eliminate Warfighter and family member suicides through outreach, media and training.
Everyone needs a Wingman and this project encourages Wingmen to check in with each other and to, "Never Leave Your Wingman." By learning ACE training, you will be equipped with the knowledge to help intervene and save a life.
ACE training teaches the warning signs of suicide to every Wingman so they know when to intervene. Just a few of the warning signs are:
Threatening or talking about hurting or killing...
[ More ]
Story of Pardo's Push Emphasizes Wingman Mentality
from 940th Wing History Office / Staff Sgt. Charles Zarza
4/2/2011 - BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Pardo's Push was an aviation maneuver carried out by Capt. Bob Pardo in order to move his wingman's badly damaged F-4 Phantom to friendly air space during the Vietnam War.
Pardo, with his back-seater, 1st Lt. Steve Wayne, and wingman Capt. Earl Aman, with his back-seater, 1st Lt. Robert Houghton, were assigned to the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. In March 1967, they were trying to attack a stee...
[ More ]
Genetic link to attempted suicide identified
Johns Hopkins scientists, reporting in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, have identified a small region on chromosome 2 that is associated with increased risk for attempted suicide. This small region contains four genes, including the ACP1 gene, and the researchers found more than normal levels of the ACP1 protein in the brains of people who had committed suicide. This protein is thought to influence the same biological pathway as lithium, a medication known to reduce the rate of suicidal behavior.
The researchers say the findings could l...
[ More ]
Suicidal thoughts plague veterans
By Bernard A. Lubell--Medill News Service--nwitimes.com
David Cox remembers being deployed, looking at his loaded weapon and thinking of ending his life.
The Highland resident had suicidal thoughts during at least one of his six deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and is thankful that one of his team members recognized his symptoms. Cox's weapon was taken away before he was sent home.
Cox had grown accustomed to seeing horrible things. In his civilian life, he worked for 14 years as a trauma nurse specialist at Cook County's John H...
[ More ]
Malmstrom chaplain shares story of contemplating suicide
By Valerie Mullett
341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. (AFNS) -- Chaplain (Capt.) John VanderKaay knows what it is like to contemplate suicide. He also knows what it's like to seek help for his feelings and begin the healing process. He has been there and shares his story with anyone it might help.
Three months after returning from a tour in Iraq, he made a permanent change-of-station move to Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., and started settling in to his new job and new surroundings.
Several months late...
[ More ]
War's other casuality: Suicidal thoughts plague returned veterans
By Bernard A. Lubell
Suicide among veterans is not a simple discussion. With veterans making more than half the calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline since 2007, does the adage of the “ultimate sacrifice” need to be revisited?
More than 134,000 people made calls to the lifeline last year. Of those callers, 61 percent identified themselves as veterans, while 7 percent identified themselves as a friend or family of a veteran.
This means that nearly three-fourths of calls made to the lifeline were related to veterans’ issu...
[ More ]
Parents of suicide victim share story
By Wayne Crenshaw
78th Air Base WWing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- On May 3, 2010, Joie Gates' boss entered her office and abruptly ordered a co-worker she was chatting with to leave with him.
Three uniformed Air Force officers then entered the room, and Gates knew she was about to get some bad news.
They told her that her only child, Airman Austin Gates-Benson, had died in Afghanistan of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. To hear the news he was dead was shocking enough, but to learn he had committed suicide left her ...
[ More ]
Army video's resiliency message applies military wide
By Laura M. Levering (Northwest Guardian)
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- A steady rise in the number of Soldiers who contemplate or commit suicide each year keeps the Army Suicide Prevention Program and behavioral health personnel striving for new ways to save lives.
The program's latest initiative, "Shoulder to Shoulder: Resiliency of the Army Family," is the third in a series of videos created for suicide awareness and prevention training at installations Armywide.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord was one of two installations selected...
[ More ]
Family & Children’s Services joins National Suicide Prevention Hotline
TULSA, Okla. – Family & Children’s Services (F&CS) announced Jan. 11 it has been named a member of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and will be responsible for answering calls to the national line from the Tulsa County area.
The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is a free, 24-hour hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. F&CS will become part of a network of more than 140 crisis centers nationwide. The national network of local crisis centers provides crisis counseling and mental health referrals day ...
[ More ]
Air Force's No. 1 sergeant encourages resilience during Vance visit
By Jeff Mullin, Senior Writer
Enid News and Eagle The Enid News and Eagle
ENID — In his 29 years of service, Chief Master Sgt. James Roy has seen many changes in the Air Force.
Young airmen are going through experiences and taking on responsibilities far beyond their years, are serving side by side with troops from other U.S. services and coalition forces and are facing the stress of combat deployments.
Roy, chief master sergeant of the Air Force, the service’s top-ranking enlisted man, visited Vance Air Force Base Thursday and Friday.
...
[ More ]
DCoE Provides Information, Support with Webinars
By Dr. Lolita O'Donnell, DCoE Clearinghouse, Outreach and Advocacy directorate acting director
Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury
The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) recently completed the first year of its DCoE Monthly Webinar Series. The series is an ongoing, informational series, in which both government and non-governmental organizations present resources and best practices associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psycholog...
[ More ]
Airman saves Wingman from halfway around the world
by Capt. Erick Saks
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
11/29/2010 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Police officials are crediting the quick actions of a security forces Airman here with saving the life of a former Airman living halfway around the world.
Senior Airman Jordan Gunterman, a 379th Air Expeditionary Wing fly-away security team leader, led authorities to his the former coworker's Florida home after he discovered his friend had overdosed on pills in a suicide attempt.
Airman Gunterman was working on homework and ...
[ More ]
From the Top: Suicide prevention ... be a lifesaver!
9/27/2010 - Citizen Airman/Oct. 2010 -- When we deploy to and from hostile fire zones and are under the constant threat of combat conditions, as Airmen, we are well-trained and prepared for the worst to react in emergency situations. But, how many of us are really prepared to help a fellow Citizen Airman who may be having suicidal thoughts? While we have implemented some solid suicide awareness programs, and there has been a downturn in the number of suicides in our command, there is still much work to be done. We can never get complacent or...
[ More ]
Program gives hope to military families
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011461242_taps28m.html
Program gives hope to military families
When tragedy is unbearable, military families turn to TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. "We come here to meet other people in like situations," said Caitlin Needham.
By Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times staff reporter
Caitlin Needham's world collapsed when her son called her at work to tell her that there were military officers at the door and she needed to come home.
Her husband of 31 years, Master Sgt. Rob...
[ More ]
A Matter of Life and Death: Suicides in the Army
MARCH 26, 2010, 11:19 AM
A Matter of Life and Death: Suicides in the Army
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/a-matter-of-life-and-death-suicides-in-the-army/?pagemode=print
By TIMOTHY HSIA
The Army faces a battle over the life and death of its soldiers. The battle is not being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in the minds and tortured souls of soldiers contemplating suicide. Last year the Army again reported an increase in suicides, and in response the Army now requires every soldier to complete an online assessment of their p...
[ More ]
